Beginning's End
by Lazeralk
Summary: COMPLETE Sequel to Drowning in Darkness, Arucard and Seras learn to live without Hellsing, and seek to reclaim Arucard's throne as the King of the Night.
1. Lessons

Beginning's End By: Lazeralk Sequel to Drowning in Darkness. Standard disclaimers apply. "Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end." - Semisonic  
  
Part 1  
  
I still remember how much it hurt, not just her death, but the actual breaking of the seals. My heart was already being torn out of my chest and stomped on, what was one more pain? It still hurt though, a physical pain I hadn't felt in a thousand years. You'd think that after being blown to bits for a few centuries you'd become desensitized to pain, and I had. The bullets didn't even tingle. Anderson's blades tickled a little, but the only real sensation I'd had in great amounts was pleasure with my wife. My sweet little hellcat, Integra.  
  
Integra. Just looking at her name hurts. Its so beautiful, so uniquely her. I'll never forget the day we married, or the day my whole existence was shattered by one mortal death. I can't believe how stupid I am. I tried this once before, you know, just after I'd been turned. I tried to hold onto all my human friends. Rosavi was her name. She was a servant to the Russian Czar who'd been sent to strengthen ties with my kingdom. I think I loved her. I really don't remember.  
  
What I do remember is the month of pure agony that I took to recover from her death, and the little scar on my stomach from the knife I'd tried to kill myself with. I guess it slipped my mind that I was already dead. Silly me.  
  
It must be nice to be able to die. To have the option of just ending it whenever. I don't think I'll ever die. Although, the human scientists say that in about five billion years or so the suns going to explode or something similar. I guess I won't survive that.  
  
But who knows? Maybe I'll reform in space and slowly starve until I'm nothing but a withered husk, still trapped. Still undead. That would be hell. Can you imagine how bored I'd be?  
  
The police-girl is worried about me, I don't know why though. I haven't been acting all that strange. Well, strange for me anyway. It's only been a month or so since Integra died, and since she didn't leave an heir the organization was handed over to the Queen. She appointed it to some stuffy knight. Sir Roderick something or other.  
  
He's no Hellsing, and the seals were broken. After one hundred miserably wonderful years, they were broken. It seems funny in a kind of pathetic way, all those years I spent in that dungeon plotting what I'd do when I was free. I had the strangest ideas, looking back. I can't believe I ever wanted to go to Paris and steal the tip of the Eiffel Tower, just because I could. Although, going home to Romania sounded pretty possible for a while.  
  
So many years I spent chained to that infernal woman. The best years of my life. Death. Whatever. I was so use to them, the seals I mean, still am I suppose. I was surprised how much power I actually had, I'd forgotten.  
  
I don't care. Isn't that strange? For almost two thousand years the only thing I cared about was power, and now I don't. I must be loosing my mind.  
  
It's time I stopped pining after Integra, she's dead. I can accept that. I have to accept that. Even the police-girl is getting over her stupid human, and I can't have her showing me up now can I? Ah, where has the great sociopath gone? I really have to look into desensitizing myself again. Maybe another blood bath? Nah. Been there, done that, wrote that book.  
  
I wish Integra were still with me, that I hadn't respected her wishes and turned her. She'd hate me, but at least she'd still be here. Well. That has to be the most pathetic thing that's ever crossed my mind.  
  
I can't believe I-  
  
"Master? What are you doing?"  
  
Arucard snapped the journal shut and quickly tucked it into his jacket. He stood and gave her his normal maniac smile. Her lips quirked in return and she idly brushed a stand of her lengthening hair out of her eyes. She was growing it out a little, just to her shoulders.  
  
"Ready to go police-girl?" he asked, stretching his obscenely long limbs.  
  
She nodded, giving her master a thoughtful look. He'd asked her to dress casually, they'd be going out tonight.  
  
"Good, then let's go. It's about time you learned how to hunt properly. Our blood supply is running low."  
  
Sears paled at the words, a neat trick for a vampire. Her ruby eyes widened and she nearly fainted.  
  
"M-master?!"  
  
Arucard laughed, the same devious laugh he used whenever he'd done something to embarrass or annoy her.  
  
"That'll do." He said giving her a quick once over. She was wearing black pants, quite snug, and a red blouse with a dipping neckline.  
  
"Master, cant we just get more medical blood?" she asked desperately. She had no more moral qualms about blood itself. It came in neat little packages, like a hamburger. She'd drink the blood, no problem, but she'd never had to go out and get it herself. She'd never gone out and carved up the cow.  
  
"Really, police-girl, it's not all that bad. Blood tastes a lot better hot than it does cold. And we don't have to actually kill the person. I just do that because it's fun." He explained, ushering her out the door of the little London flat they were staying in until he could pull up his old accounts and find the address of a house he owned in Santa Fe.  
  
Most of the ones he'd thought of and checked had been closed due to a hundred years of inactivity. Everything in them had been transferred to another account, per his instructions. He just had to figure out which account that was.  
  
One did not live. Exist. Whatever. One did not exist for two thousand years with out paperwork. He had hundreds of accounts spread all over the world, several pieces of property, and about twelve alternate identities. He was filthy rich, always had been, now all he wanted to do was find a nice palace somewhere, fill it with vampires and resume his reign as the King of the Night.  
  
He wondered who had stepped up to take the throne in his absence idly as he guided Sears down the busy streets of twilight London in search of prey. First he'd have to teach her how to capture a human's mind, make them still and compliant. When she'd mastered that, he'd teach her how to feed discreetly and when to stop. Something easy to start with he supposed, eyeing a whore on the corner, stoned out of her mind.  
  
Yes, she would do. If the police-girl couldn't figure out how to erase her memory, the woman would just think it was a drug-induced delusion. Perfect.  
  
He wandered over to her and offered her a hand up. The whore took it and ran her dirty fingers down his chest.  
  
"I'm forty an hour." She slurred, her accent thick as honey though not as sweet.  
  
"Of course." He said, taking her by the elbow and leading her up the stairs of a cheap hotel.  
  
"Master?" squeaked Seras, eyeing the whore with something akin to horror.  
  
"Come along police-girl." Said the nosfaratu, pausing to sweep the drugged woman off her feet after she'd tripped on the steps.  
  
Seras followed uncertainly, glancing around to see if they were being watched. They checked in, grabbing a key off the wall. It was one of those pay by the hour deals. Arucard pushed open the door and tossed the woman in the general direction of the bed, not really caring when she landed on the edge and then slid off the side to fall flat on her face.  
  
The room was dirty, and old. Water stains splotched their way across the ceiling in a little parade of rusty colored flaws. The bed looked as if it were barely standing, creaking loudly whenever the whore moved it. Seras quietly shut the door behind her, wincing as the hinges screeched.  
  
Arucard settled himself in the only chair, mindful of his weight when the chair protested loudly, the wood starting to splinter. He crossed his arms over his chest and gave his child a not so encouraging smile.  
  
"Master?" asked Seras uncertainly.  
  
"Go to her, look her in the eye and will her to belong to you. Take her mind into yours and erase everything but you." He instructed.  
  
Seras gave him a look that said: 'you've got to be kidding'.  
  
-Now, Seras. - He commanded.  
  
The blonde winced at her master's tone; she couldn't believe she was about to do this. At least she didn't have to kill the poor woman, that would have been awful. Seras had never killed a human being before and was quite proud of the fact.  
  
She watched the whore pulled herself up onto the bed, her matted brown hair swinging around her dirty face as she struggled to maintain her balance. The fledgling vampire cautiously approached the bed, trying to make as little noise as possible.  
  
When she reached the edge, she tentatively rested her fingers against the woman's cheek. The whore started, watching her with wide eyes.  
  
"Um, hello." Said Seras, tilting her chin up to meet her eyes. The whore didn't say anything, just gazed at Seras with blank eyes.  
  
-Will her to see nothing but you, know and feel and taste and hear nothing but you. - Arucard whispered in her mind.  
  
Seras glanced nervously at her master but tried her best to comply, mentally urging the woman to forget about everything but her. The blonde watched with fascination as the whore's eyes became both more focused and more glazed at the same time. She knew she had the woman's full and undivided attention, but also that her mind was in a kind of haze, detached from the rest of reality even without the drugs.  
  
-Good. Now ask her what her name is. - Commanded Arucard.  
  
"What's your name?" asked Seras.  
  
"Olivia." The woman replied instantly.  
  
-Now, will her to forget that she just said that. Just tell her, with your thoughts, that she didn't say anything. -  
  
Seras felt rather stupid, but did what her master told her to do. She thought at the woman, silly as it may sound, fully expecting it to have no effect what so ever.  
  
-Now let go. All you have to do and not want her to be focused on you anymore. -  
  
Seras didn't want her to be focused on her anymore, in fact all she wanted to do was go back to the flat and curl up with a book. Or go back to the Hellsing Manor. Or go anywhere that wasn't here.  
  
The woman's eyes returned to their foggy state and she smiled at Seras, waiting patiently for her client to make the first move.  
  
-Ask her what she just said. - Instructed her master, fighting back a laugh.  
  
Seras glared at him, but fixed her gaze firmly on the woman in front of her, her ruby eyes boring into dazed hazel.  
  
"What did you just say?"  
  
"Say?" asked the woman. Her face gained a thoughtful expression as she fought the drugs in her system to recall a memory she no longer had.  
  
"I didn't say anything." Insisted the whore, Olivia, after a moment of consideration.  
  
"Very good Seras. You did well." Said Arucard happily.  
  
Seras shot him a bashful smile, it wasn't often she got praise from her master.  
  
"Now do it again."  
  
Seras frowned, and the whore looked confused. Arucard arched an eyebrow at her, and gave her what he considered to be a comforting smile. Both women grimaced.  
  
Seras sighed and captured the woman's gaze yet again, doing just what her master had instructed.  
  
-Now hold her in thrall. Make sure she is totally focused on you. -  
  
Arucard rose silently from his seat and settled himself on the bed behind the whore as his child held the woman's gaze.  
  
He carefully ran his hand down her arm and exposed the inside of her elbow.  
  
"We'll take blood from here, just like the doctor does. With veins on the arms and legs you only puncture with one fang." Said Arucard, lifting the limp appendage to his child's mouth.  
  
Seras gave him worried puppy dog eyes, a last ditch attempt at just forgetting this whole thing. Arucard frowned at her lifted the arm a little more.  
  
She sighed and very gently sunk her left fang into the soft flesh. It was awkward, half her mouth hanging open as she punctured the skin, but she managed with minimal mess. She had no choice but to close her mouth over the small wound to avoid spilling it everywhere, and then her instincts took over.  
  
The blood lust pumped in her veins, stirred to life by the taste of fresh blood. Her eyes blanked as the hunger rode her, turning her from a timid police-girl to crazed animal. She sucked hard, trying to sink her fangs in again to widen the wound but without loosing the suction that brought her the sweet fluid.  
  
Arucard watched her feed; silently battling his own hunger, then after a few moments forcefully pulled her off the oblivious whore.  
  
-Seras. Seras, come back. - He called into her mind. He gazed into her eyes and took command of her mind as he would a humans pushing her hunger back, and calling to his child.  
  
-Police-girl! -  
  
Seras snapped back to reality, her eyes filling with confusion as she tried to remember what she'd been doing. She looked down at the whore, who was contentedly lounging against her master's chest, head lolling to the side. A thin trickle of blood snaked down her arm unnoticed, her eyes still clouded and focused at once.  
  
-Now erase her memory police-girl. -  
  
Seras tilted the head back towards her with gentle fingers and carefully edited the woman's recollection of the night. She then quickly broke contact.  
  
"Huh?" asked Olivia, staring at her arm with confusion.  
  
"Hush." Said Arucard, wrapping an arm around the whore's waist and covering the small wound with his gloved hand. When he removed his hand the puncture was gone. He pressed his lips lightly to her neck and then released her.  
  
"Come along now Seras." He said as he slid off the bed, tossing a fifty- pound note on the comforter. The blonde nodded and meekly followed her master out of the room, leaving the very confused, and heavily drugged whore behind. Seras was trying to figure out what had happened when she'd blacked out, although the possibilities were limited, they were not all that comforting. She trooped down the stairs and kept the splotch of red that was her master in her peripheral vision, content to let him lead her aimlessly while she mulled over her first 'hunting' lesson.  
  
Neither noticed that Olivia the whore had followed them out and was standing at the door to a local pub, her eyes quite clear.  
  
"The Master's not going to like this." She muttered to herself, her accent gone, her posture model perfect.  
  
"The Master's not going to like this one bit."  
  
End part 1  
  
This will get more interesting as it goes I swear. I don't think it will have any more demons, but lots of new vamps, and possibly Shadow. 


	2. Allies

Beginning's End

By: Lazeralk

Standard disclaimers apply.

"Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end." – Semisonic

To everyone who reviewed, thanks, I love you. Here's the next part.

Part 2

Sears was dreaming, she had to be because Kai was there, laughing with her. She reached out and ran a hand through his soft hair, still a perfect platinum blonde. He smiled at her, the same dazzling smile that he'd given her so long ago in that tiny art gallery in the mall.

He opened his mouth and only a whisper of a sound crossed his lips, and Seras frowned.

"Wake up police-girl."

"Hmm?" she said rolling over and blinked up at her master. Arucard was dressed as casually as she'd ever seen him. Black jeans, a red t-shirt and his glasses. His coat was hung by the door next to his hat.

"Get dressed police-girl, I still have lots to teach you." Arucard turned away and strode into their small kitchen, fishing two of the last blood packs out of the tiny refrigerator. He returned to watch Seras sit up and rub her eyes, yawning like a kitten. Her corn silk blonde hair stuck out at odd angles and the blankets tangled around her legs. He smiled at the picture she made.

"Here." He tossed her one of the packets and was silently proud when she caught it on reflex.

She greedily sunk her teeth into it and drained it in record time. Arucard was impressed, apparently she didn't like fresh blood all that much. Oh well, she'd get use to it eventually.

"What are we doing tonight master?" asked Seras as she climbed out of bed and began to dig through the small suitcase she'd brought from the Hellsing manor. The knight who'd taken over had extended a very warm welcome to remain with Hellsing and continue to 'serve the crown and further the glory of God.' Arucard had laughed in the man's face, packed his bags and left the next morning with Seras in tow.

The memory brought a smile to the master vampire's face as he shrugged into his coat. He turned to see his child pulling her own coat over one of her trademark secretary cut skirts and a royal blue shirt.

"Tonight we go to meet one of my old allies." He said, raking his eyes down her form. She looked very nice. Why he was noticing this now, he had no idea. Of course he'd seen how beautiful she was ages ago, but it hadn't really mattered then, not with Integra and the human whelp running around. Now though, now it had possibilities.

"Master?"

"Right then." He said, snapping out of his daze.

"Lets get going."

Seras gave her master a funny look; it wasn't all that often she saw him so unfocused. Sir Integra's death must have taken more out of him than she thought. She walked behind her master, his bright red coat unmistakable in the crowd, and thought about how she could help him. He was everything to her now, without him, where would she be? She had no family left alive and she hardly knew anything about being a proper vampire. How would she support herself?

Master has been so good to me. She thought.

"In here police-girl." Said Arucard, steering her in the direction of a ritzy upper class neighborhood.

They walked for a long time, the smooth pavement silent under their feet. Seras glanced around the empty street nervously, taking in the quality of the silence. They were being watched, she just knew it. Her fingers itched for the gun under her arm, her eyes searched frantically for a target.

-Easy police-girl. – Came the whisper of her master's voice in her mind.

-Who are they? What do they want? – She asked rapidly.

-They're spies. They won't attack. They know who I am, and the price for such foolishness. – He reassured her.

No sooner than the thoughts had left his mind, black shapes erupted from the very air itself. They attacked from all sides, flashing fang and claw. Without thinking, Seras pulled the gun from its holster and squeezed off round after round after round. Blood rushed from the bodies that hit the pavement, washing over the tops of her shoes like rocks in a river.

"Very nice police-girl." Said her master who hadn't moved an inch.

"Thanks for the help." She said sarcastically, re-holstering her gun.

"Not at all." He replied, grinning at her.

"Master?" asked Seras, eyeing the bleeding corpses with interest.

"What?" he answered absently, scanning the surrounding area for God knew what.

"Why didn't the bodies turn to dust?"

"They're werewolves." Answered Arucard, pulling his own gun from the depths of his coat and firing a single shot into the still night. A screech of pain answered it and the nosfaratu smiled.

"Werewolves. Are they very dangerous?"

"Not really. They don't live nearly as long as we do, but they have very long life spans compared to humans because they're regenerating themselves almost constantly, so the tissue doesn't decay as fast." He said, tucking the gun away.

"Oh." Said Seras.

"Come along now police-girl, that was just a test."

"A test?"

"Yes, now the real fun begins." He assured her, his teeth gleaming in the streetlight as he gave her his insane smile, his eyes lighting up with childlike glee.

Seras groaned.

It seemed like hours had passed before they reached the oldest house in the neighborhood, a huge Victorian mansion. Arucard walked up the steps to the veranda and to the front door.

To Seras' surprise, he actually knocked.

The door swung open, the hinges creaking loudly. There was only empty air to greet them. If this fazed Arucard, it didn't show. He just walked right in, his child following nervously behind.

"Arucard! Arucard, is that you?" came a very heavily accented voice. Seras listened closely but couldn't quite place it.

Just then a petite blonde came rushing down the stairs in a flurry of brushed silk and chiffon. Her long hair was pulled up into an elegant style, managing to bare her neck and cascade over her shoulders at once.

"Arucard!" she barked, and Seras was surprised to decide that the accent was Russian.

"Galina." Answered her master and the child vampire looked back and forth between them, utterly dumbfounded.

-Master, who is she? –

-An old friend of mine. The saucy Russian rebel Galina. –

Saucy. Russian. Rebel. Oh dear. Thought Seras.

"It's about time you got out of that Hellsing place. Why didn't you come to see me sooner? Look at you! Why haven't you been eating?" Demanded the vampiress, dragging the pair of them off to a set of mahogany double doors.

"And who's the girl?" asked Galina, her voice condescending.

"I'm Seras Victoria ma'am." Seras stepped forward, a hard look on her features.

Arucard started laughing.

"Are you now? So you're the one's been looking after _my_ Arucard?"

"Y-you're Arucard?!" exclaimed Seras, surprise chasing its way across her kittenish face. Arucard fell to the floor clutching his sides and trying desperately to get enough oxygen into his lungs.

"And you! Get off the floor! It's been hell since you left." Scolded the Russian, glaring fiercely at the No Life King.

Galina turned sharply on her heel and pushed the doors open, the room was circular and lined with beds. Above each bed was a large metal ring attached to the wall. Humans, boys and girls, young and old, were chained to the beds. The chains were fitted around their ankles and a long length let them move about the room quite freely.

The all lined up quickly when their mistress entered. Galina waved her small, manicured hand at them in a lazy manner.

"Pick one. Eat. You're too skinny." She ordered.

"Ah, the good life." Said Arucard wrapping his arm around the waist of a blonde girl. He captured her eyes and then sunk his fangs into her neck. Since it was considered rude to kill a gift meal from your host, he only took his fill and then let the girl go. He looked at her face and smiled, tilting his head in amusement. It seemed he had a thing for blondes.

Seras carefully walked along the row of people and chose a sturdy brunette man that had to lean down for her to feed. She caught his eyes just like her master taught her and tried to make the encounter as painless as possible. She only drank a little, not wanting to actually hurt him. When she was finished, she retreated back to her master's side giving her latest victim an apologetic smile. To her surprise, he smiled back.

Arucard watched the exchange with growing agitation. He'd lock the girl in her coffin for the rest of eternity before he let her go gallivanting off with yet another human! Why couldn't she just settle down with a nice vampire and show some sense like the rest of her kind? Was that really so hard? You'd think she'd learn after the first whelp, but no, she has to be just as stubborn as Integra.

Oh God.

"Arucard! Are you even listening to me?" barked Galina.

"Not really." He answered, watching his child fidget under his intense gaze.

"Master. You should listen to her, it was pretty important stuff." Said Seras meekly.

Like Integra? No, she was nothing like Integra. Not this humble, little girl. Surely not.

Arucard turned away from her, still a bit shaken, and tried to focus on what his old friend was telling him. His wandering thoughts snapped back to attention as a single name slipped from between the vampiress' lips.

"Thought that would get you." She said smugly.

"What the hell does Loki think he's doing?"

"He's disgracing the name of vampire, the bastard. He's bringing humans into the Circles. He's turning our millennia old hierarchy in to the goddamned mafia." Ranted Galina, throwing her silks into the air as she turned.

"He knows the law. Humans are forbidden to entering the Circles." Snarled Arucard, of all the upstart little pipsqueaks, Loki was the one he hated the most. The only reason he was still moving around a hundred years ago was because his maker was a good friend of his. It seemed Hera had made a mistake with him.

"Law!" scoffed Galina, whirling around to face them as they followed her through the twisting halls of her home.

"The fool thinks he's the King of the Night. Things have changed since you left Arucard. A lot of things. Loki taking over was just the beginning."

"What do you mean?" asked Arucard.

"Well for one thing, he seized all the accounts he could get his grubby little hands on, and most of your old halfway houses. He's allied with the werewolves, made them full Blood Kin of the Second Circle. He took your castle in Romania." She said, her voice softening with worry.

"He took my castle?"

Seras backed up a step at the tone of her master's voice. She'd never heard him sound so angry before, not even when Integra had been kidnapped all those years ago.

"Relax police-girl." He whispered to her, his voice back to its usual blank insanity. She nodded dumbly at him, still not convinced of his sincerity.

"Let's settle in for the night police-girl. We'll get our stuff from the flat tomorrow and some new weapons. Then we go hunting." Said Arucard, his voice taking on the particular edge it got when he was about to bathe in blood. Seras whimpered a little but hung her head in defeat and silently followed her master and Galina up the stairs.

"Here we go again." She muttered.

"It's not so bad." Said Galina, speaking softly to her, her accent sounding more motherly than threatening now. The woman was so fiery, so full of passion and life that it almost sounded odd. The elder vampiress wrapped a pale arm around her shoulders and guided her to a plush room with a queen size bed and no windows.

"It'll get better for you once Arucard reclaims his throne. You'll have a room in the castle, and anything you could ever want. Arucard is our true king, and we'll have our allies back. Just stick with him. He needs you by his side."

Seras just looked at her, startled by the woman's intensity and the sheer conviction of her words. She nodded and wandered into her room, collapsing onto her bed once Galina had closed the door behind her.

She kicked off her shoes and curled up under the down comforter. She lay there in the dark, still able to make out the shapes in the room even in the tar black night.

"Master needs me huh?" she whispered to herself.

"I guess that's not so bad."

End part 2


	3. Loki

Beginning's End

By: Lazeralk

Standard disclaimers apply.

"Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end." – Semisonic

Dracu..errr.... guy – read the fic, I'll explain everything. And have you read my motto? I'm the author; I can make Arucard however old I want him to be.

R4nd0m – Thanks for the clear up on the earth blowing up thing, I'll change it.

Part 3

It was mid day by the time Seras wandered down stairs for breakfast. She entered the room Galina had shown them last night and found all the humans unchained and lounging around the room. They all looked uncertain for a moment before lining up as they had before.

"Oh no need." Said Seras; picking the same man she'd fed from the night before. He smiled down at her and the others wandered back to their respective beds, unsure how to act around the new vampire.

They watched her warily as she caught his eyes and drank a relatively small amount, carefully supporting his limp frame. When she was finished she released him and blushed cutely.

"Thank you." She whispered before turning around and fleeing the room. She raced back up the stairs her cheeks burning with embarrassment. She'd never felt more nervous in her life. All those people watching her feed, watching as she did something so utterly inhuman. Did they think she was a monster? And why did he always smile at her?

Did he like her? Oh no. No, no, no. Not that again. She barely survived Malikai's death, she was not doing it all over again. And yet, he was human. And he didn't condemn her. But no, not another Malikai. No, no, no.

-Are you planning on joining us any time soon police-girl? –

-Master? –

Oh God, please tell me he didn't just hear all that. Please!

-Downstairs, third hall on the left second door on the left. – His voice betrayed nothing, maybe he didn't know.

-I'm coming. – She answered.

Arucard turned the goblet in his fingers, watching the light dance through the blood. So his child thought that he didn't know about her little trip to the snack room. Poor Seras, when was she going to figure out that he knew everything? He smirked.

Galina watched him closely, her thoughts carefully guarded from him. So Arucard was finally taking interest in a vampire lover. It was about time. First Rosavi, then Helena, then Kristine and now Integra. All strong willed blonde humans. She sighed, being a vampire really bites sometimes. (Pun intended.)

You never saw me, did you Arucard?

Seras entered the room then and took a seat silently next to her master. She played with the buttons of her coat for a while, watching her master drink lazily from his glass out of the corner of her eye.

And little Seras Victoria, not so strong willed, but blonde and cute. What was it about her that drew him to her? She was not a spitfire like the others had been, perhaps she defied him? Arucard hated to be told no on any level, which could be it. Galina silently contemplated this as she served the girl a glass of blood, and sipped on her own.

"Does Loki know we're in town?" Asked Arucard out of the blue.

"Yes. He has human informants everywhere. He still can't stand the light of the sun. Isn't that pathetic?" Answered Galina.

Seras listened to them quietly, sipping blood daintily.

"I'm going to enjoy ripping him to shreds. Hera can't protect him anymore."

"Well that's certainly true. He had her executed two years ago. Fed her to the werewolves, the slimy git."

"He did what?" snarled Arucard.

"Master?" asked Seras, not understanding why something like that could get such a reaction out of her master.

"He's given the wolves status, and therefore power. He's using them as a threat, like a boogey-man for bad little vampires. That will give them a voice, and make them a major player on the board. Food should not be anywhere near the board, let alone on it. Don't you see police-girl? If you give your cow a choice, he's going to buck you in the ass before he lets you eat him."

Seras mulled over this, it wasn't morally correct, but in the end it was very practical. And if there was one thing her master was it was practical.

"What about his maker?"

"Oh Hera? That isn't so bad. Lots of vampires kill their makers, its sort of a coming of age thing. Though I wouldn't really advise it in your case."

Seras looked stricken.

"Master! I would never!"

"I know, I know. Well, let's get going. We'll get our stuff, set up base here and get ready."

"Ready for what master?"

"War."

Isabella was feeding her bats when the phone rang. She scratched one of the little ones behind the ear before wandering over to the table and picking up the receiver.

"Hello?"

'Isabella. It's Arucard.' Said the voice on the other end of the line. A voice she hadn't heard in a hundred years.

"Arucard! What happened to you? Where have you been all this time? Loki said some psycho Knight had killed you in England. Hellsing wasn't it?" Said Isabella.

'No, I wasn't killed. I was captured by Hellsing. I've been killing things for his family for the last two generation. It was actually a nice little vacation. I made a new fledgling too.' He answered.

"What about Katrina? She's still here you know. She's been pining away for you since you disappeared. Loki's been running us all to hell, you know. You are going to kill the little twit aren't you?"

'Yes of course. Get Katrina packed and meet us at Galina's place in London.'

"I'll be there as soon as I can." She promised.

The line went dead. Isabella threw open the doors to the cave entrance and whispered into the minds of her bats. They took off in a flurry of fur and leather, swarming into the night and heading north to London. She then whirled up the stairs to find the young vampire that lived with her.

"Master, who was that?" asked Seras as she watched him put down the phone.

"Another old ally. Isabella will be bringing Katrina. Katrina is your elder sister, my only other child. I made her half a century or so before Hellsing caught me." Explained Arucard.

"Are they much older than me?" asked Seras curiously, she was just over seventy years dead now.

"Katrina's about a hundred and sixty. Isabella is closer to fourteen hundred." Said Arucard as he began to lay out the guns he'd collected from a private vault he'd had added to Galina's house when he was still the King. The vampiress, bless her heart, had kept it stock full of the latest designs.

Seras even had a new Halconnen, although she was favoring the Cassul as of late.

Arucard was brooding, his hands absently pulling the guns apart, cleaning the pieces, checking the ammunition, testing the grip and weight. His thoughts however, were playing over the little welcoming committee that his child had blown all to hell. Loki must have become overly cocky to have ordered such an attack. He knew better than to mess with him. The nosfaratu had made sure of that the last time they'd met.

_(Flashback)_

_A young man was rolling on the floor laughing in the blood. The thick red liquid rushed from the stiffening corpse of the vampiress Brena. Silent tears dripped down the face of a brunette vampire, his blank white eyes filled with sorrow. Cold eyes glared at both of them, Brena had been well liked at court, always happy. The fledgling, Vincent, had tricked the blind vampire Hallow into killing her. _

_Mikado had not been pleased. The tall Japanese vampire and reigning King of the Night raised his hand to strike the laughing child down but a woman threw herself between them._

"_Yamero! Onegai yamero!" she cried in her master's native language._

"_Get out of my way Hera." Said the master coldly, an insane glint entering his eyes._

_Vincent stopped laughing long enough to shove his maker out of the way and came to stand before the King. He sneered at the master, taunting him with his eyes. Mikado grabbed him by the neck and dragged him away from the room, ignoring the loud protests of the boy. Hera watched silently as Mikado tore into her child, beating him senseless and rending the flesh from his bones until he cried and begged. _

"_You will never defy my orders. You will never slay one of my court. Form this day on you are Loki and you are banished to the Twelfth Circle. I am your master boy, and you will obey me." _

_Mikado continued to torture him until the vampire now known as Loki passed out from the pain._

_(End Flashback)_

Obviously Loki didn't learn his lesson. Arucard smiled, he'd enjoy re-educating him. Right before he let his hellhounds eat him. That reminded him, he had to find Hallow. The blind one had surely gone into hiding when Loki took the throne.

Arucard stood, stretched and tucked the guns away inside his coat.

"Master?" said Seras, watching him arm himself. He turned to look at her and his eyes danced with red light, like fire seen through blood.

"We fly to Romania at sunset tomorrow. Go to the west tower and open the picture window. Isabella's bats are coming. After that, Galina will show you the manticors, her familiars." Said Arucard.

"Manticors?" asked Seras struggling to recall any information she had on them. She'd heard the word mentioned in passing once but she couldn't remember where. They were obviously some kind of animal, but she couldn't match a picture to the name.

"Manticors are a common myth in Asia. Mostly India and Malaysia. They have the body of a lion, the wings of a bat and the tail of a scorpion. They're highly poisonous, and very strong. We'll need them to keep the werewolves busy while we take the castle."

Seras, still confused, nodded at her master and went to carry out his orders. She climbed the stairs to the west tower and found the room with the picture window. She gazed out at the darkening sky and pulled the glass open, watching with interest as a swarm of black crept closer to the mansion. She leaned on the sill and squinted into the light, struggling to see.

Just as she made out the first shape, the cloud descended on her, a flurry of wings and tiny teeth surrounding her on all sides. Fear built up inside her throat, and she closed her eyes tightly to protect them. She tried very hard not to scream as the swarm engulfed her, the hair on their bodies brushing against her skin, the touch of leather slapped at her arms, and small claws pulled at her hair. When the bats began to circle around her in ever increasing numbers she let out her screams, terror filling her up. More and more bats came flocking into the room, finding roosts where ever they could, nipping at the girl in their midst.

Seras, absolutely terrified, turned on her heel and bolted from the room, slamming the doors behind her. She ran through the corridor, antique paintings and royal crowning rushing past her in a blur as she sought the safety of her master's presence. She fled to the room where she'd last seen him and found him scribbling in his journal again. The door hit the wall and he snapped the book closed and tucked it away again.

"You're pathetic police-girl." He said even as he opened his arms to her.

Isabella and Katrina knocked on the front door to Galina's house just as the first layer of true night blanketed the sky. The door swung open to admit them, and they crossed the threshold.

"Glad you could make it." Said Galina, her long silk dress swishing around her legs. Isabella smiled at her; she looked just as she remembered. Long blonde hair pulled up in an elegant swirl, ruby eyes set in a pale aristocratic face.

Isabella had long brunette curls that brushed the small of her back. He dress was eighteenth century English with a wide hoop skirt and a high neck. Katrina trailed in behind her, her copper red hair pined up with barrettes. She wore modern American clothing, tight jeans and a cropped Ralph Lauren tee with a tiny pocket on the sleeve.

"Galina." Said Isabella in way of greeting. The two women embraced, having to lean towards each other to compensate for Isabella's stiff skirts. Galina then released her and went to fuss over Katrina.

"Come here girl, let's have a look at you." Said the Russian as she swept the young vampire into a bone-crushing hug. The redhead smiled tolerantly and let the woman she'd come to call Auntie pamper her.

"Auntie Galina, is master here?" she asked, looking around for midnight hair, ruby eyes and a long red trench.

"He's here, and he's brought someone with him. You've got your self a sister. Try not to kill her ok?" cautioned the blonde with a half worried, half jokingly skeptical look on her face.

"A sister?" asked Katrina, her voice going flat.

"Yes, and she's a sweet girl too."

"I think I'd like to meet this 'sister' of mine."

"All in good time Katrina." Said a voice she hadn't heard in hundred years. A smooth tenor that rushed down her spine like silk and fire. Her heart fluttered, her stomach clenched and she turned joy filled eyes towards her maker.

"Master." She breathed, her voice full of awe. The moment she laid eyes on him she knew she'd fallen in love with him all over again.

End part 3

"Yamero! Onegai yamero!" means "Stop! Please stop!"

Mikado means Emperor. I thought it was fitting.

Next part, manticors!


	4. Ancient History

Beginning's End

By: Lazeralk

Standard disclaimers apply.

"Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end." – Semisonic

To my reviewers, thanks so much, Seras doesn't have a familiar yet, she's not even a century old. Don't worry though, lots of other fun stuff will be happening.

Part 4

The moment Seras walked into the room, she knew something was wrong. It wasn't just a feeling in her gut or the cold rage that settled in her heart at the sight of her master with his feet propped up on the table, and a glass of blood in his fingers. It was pale redhead wearing short shorts and bra that was draped over her master's lap trailing her hands all over his body.

It was also the fact that Arucard was sitting there drinking blood like nothing was wrong. She had half a mind to pull her gun and shoot the both of them. At that moment however, her master slammed down the goblet he'd been drinking from causing everyone in the room, including Galina and a woman she didn't recognize, to freeze. There was a tension in the air, as if a great storm were building, and then Arucard threw back his head and laughed somewhat hysterically.

"Master!" yelled Seras, her face reddening cutely.

"You're a trip police-girl." He told her between fits of laughter.

The redhead was still thrown over him, rubbing her chest over his lap in small circles while she glared at her 'sister'. Her hostile eyes seemed to scream at her: 'Mine! Don't touch!'

Seras didn't see the point in it, it wasn't as if she were tiring to court her master, he was more a father figure to her than anything. She still mourned her husband in the few moments she had to herself. Kai had been her whole world, her everything.

The bimbo could have him for all she cared. Seras tried to convey the message with her face, arching an eyebrow as if to say: 'What? I'm not competition.'

The redhead ignored the look and continued to glare.

Arucard was still laughing, though considerably more subdued. He cleared his throat loudly and made a sweeping gesture towards Seras.

"Katrina, this is Seras. Police-girl, this is Katrina." He said, watching them battle with the intensity of their glares. It was just too cute.

"Ok, everyone get geared up and be ready to leave in ten minutes." Said Arucard as he stood, dumping his elder child unceremoniously onto the floor.

"Sir." Said Seras as she clicked her heels together, saluted and walked out of the room.

"Do I have to?" wined Katrina, pulling herself up Arucard's body by grabbing fistfuls of his clothes.

"Yes Katrina you have to. Now don't make me repeat myself." He told her coldly as he pried her fingers out of his coat. She pouted then headed downstairs to where her normal room was.

"She hasn't changed a bit. Why did I make her a vampire?" he asked Isabella, who stood beside him.

"Don't look at me, you haven't had to live with her for the last century." She answered, turning on her heel and stalking after her charge.

Arucard sighed and opened a large box on the floor beside the table. He began to empty it as Galina rushed up the stairs to change, leaving the nosfaratu alone in the dining room. He set clip after clip of ammunition for every kind of gun imaginable in neat rows across the surface. He piled the magazines for his own Jackals and Seras' Cassul on the corner.

Seras returned first, her eyes relieved when she saw that the redhead, Katrina, was nowhere to be found.

"You might need a few more clips police-girl." Said Arucard, tossing her a handful from the table. Seras had the Cassul under her left arm, the new Halconnen slung over her shoulder and a Beretta on each hip. She carefully tucked the extra clips into a utility belt that was already half full.

Galina entered the room, her flowing silks replaced with black terrycloth with blacked out buckles. She had several handguns hidden on her person, a sawed off shotgun across her back and a 7.62 mm. AKM thrown casually over her shoulder.

"An AKM?" balked Seras as she eyed the long weapon. It looked something like a rifle, but the clip attached to it looked like it belonged on a machine gun. If she recalled her guns correctly, it actually was capable of automatic fire.

"Nothing but the best Russian design!" crowed Galina, leading them to the mahogany doors yet again.

Isabella was wearing the strangest shoulder guards any of them had ever seen. Her cape was fitted into the guards and extending from the plates over her shoulders were about ten long points. It looked as if she'd taken metal skewers and shoved them into the rim of the armor. Bats hung from the skewers, their small bodies swaying with their mistress' movement.

Katrina was wearing as little as possible, meaning camo undies. She sneered at Seras who was wearing her normal 'police-girl' uniform with the Hellsing coat of arms still sewn on the breast pocket. Katrina glared hostilely at the small blonde, looping her arm through her master's. Seras frowned at her but said nothing, walking briskly towards the mess hall. The humans all lined up when Galina's face appeared in the doorway. Seras moved towards her usual, but Arucard shook off Katrina's arm and claimed the man for himself. Seras paused for a moment, unsure of why he would do such a thing before picking a healthy woman who looked to be in her forties.

They fed, Katrina pouting as she picked a young man and sank her teeth into him, even as she fondled him through his pants, her eyes on Arucard. Her master ignored her however and when she'd finished feeding she shoved her victim away roughly.

"Arighty, to the plane." Said Galina, her mood quite playful. She walked across the room and threw open a large door. The humans shrank back to the far side of room, pressing their backs against the wall. Seras stood hypnotized by the creatures that emerged.

They stood a good six feet tall, a wild mane surrounding their snapping jaws and coal black eyes. Giant bat wings rose from their backs, the talons curving wickedly. A huge scorpion's tail arched gracefully over their backs, the tips barbed and glistening with poison. They were the most beautiful of all super-predators, they were manticors.

Galina ran her fingers through the tawny manes, and hugged the barrel chests of the beasts, six in all. She cooed and petted them, her face full of a mother's love.

"My babies." She said, kissing the pink nose of the one she was holding. The manticor rumbled at her, rubbing its side along her body, like a giant house cat.

"This is Ranja." She said, introducing them.

"Hi Ranja!" said Katrina leaping forward to pet him. The beast watched her lazily, completely confident in his own power.

"We need to get moving now. Send the manticors ahead Galina. They fly faster than the jet anyway." Instructed Arucard as he turned and headed straight for the humans, smiling evilly as their eyes widened in fear before phasing right through them and into the wall.

"Show off." Quipped Galina, herding the manticors out the door.

"Get to the jet you three, I'll be there in a moment."

Isabella, Seras and Katrina scowled for different reasons but moved to obey. Katrina's fingers clenched, cracking her knuckles as she stared murderously at the back of Seras' head.

"Katrina. Don't even start." Growled Isabella as she led them towards the back of the house.

Seras was buckling her seatbelt when Arucard began floating through the floor. She stared at him as his body emerged from underneath the plane, blinking in wiry amusement.

"Hello master." She said quietly.

"Police-girl." He returned, his feet now actually on the floor rather then in it. He sat beside her, not bothering with the seatbelt, and pulled the rim of his hat down over his eyes.

"Good night master." Whispered Seras, turning towards him and leaning her head on his shoulder as she settled down to sleep. She'd just barely closed her eyes when a bloodthirsty shriek caused both of them to jump.

Arucard had his gun in his hand and was pointing it steadily at his older child, from which the dreadful noise had originated, while Seras struggled to get her gun out from under the seatbelt.

"Is there a problem Katrina?" asked Arucard icily.

"I don't like her master, I don't want her touching you." Declared the redhead hotly.

Arucard glared at her and she wilted.

"Who are you to say who can touch me and who cannot? I am master here, not you. Now go sit in the back like a good little girl." He growled.

Katrina flinched and retreated to sulk at the back of the small six-seater cabin. Arucard watched her for a moment before returning to his original position, grumbling about insubordination. Seras warily eyed the top of the other girl's head before undoing her seatbelt and sliding into a more comfortable position, her head once again on her master's shoulder.

Seras frowned when she realized she couldn't sleep, not with the questions brewing in her mind. Why did Katrina hate her so much? What was her connection to Arucard? Had they been lovers once? Was that why she was so jealous? Was she always this bitchy? Why would her master turn her if she was?

As if hearing her thoughts, as perhaps he had, Arucard began to speak in her mind, his voice soft as he lost himself in memories.

-I met her in New Mexico, in Santa Fe about one hundred eighty years ago. She was such a tiny little thing, maybe ten years old. Her parents had died in a car crash the year before and she was living in foster care. I was on my usual hunts when I found her playing behind an old warehouse. The man I'd been stalking was some small time car thief, using the warehouse to store his loot. She looked up at me and she wasn't afraid. I think that's what really did it. She just watched me and then gave me a little flower. She asked if I wanted to play with her. No one had ever done that before. No one. –

He was silent a long time, as if debating what to tell her, or if he'd tell her at all. She watched him quietly, eager to unlock the secrets of her master's past. Arucard quirked his lips and decided to oblige her.

-I was originally Japanese, the son of a feudal lord during Ji Goku Sen Dai. My name was Mikado. I wandered to far into a cave system one night and ended up food for a vampire. She liked me though, my master Lamia. After a few hundred years of learning to become a vampire I traveled to Thebes, in Greece. I established myself as a war hero and eventually was named Lord. I worked my way north, killing and feeding and growing in power. The people thought me a devil, or sometimes a dragon. I became the ultimate boogey man and they called me Dracul. Ah, the good old days.

By 1410 I'd reached Romania. You know the stories about Dracula? They're actually about my son. Vlad Tepes was a prince, a celebrated hero for leading his people against the Ottomans. He was ruthless and cruel, but also fair. He was my ideal first fledgling. I'd been dead some 1200 years by then. I turned him, but it was a mistake, as soon as he learned to control his power, he went on an insatiable rampage, killed everyone he could get his hands on. He even tried to kill me a few times. He was such a loose cannon that I eventually had to track him through London and kill him myself. But the damage had been done; Van Helsing's diary was passed from hand to hand until it reached the desk of Bram Stoker. The whole sordid story was published and my image was ruined forever, confined to the laughable B-movie Dracula.

Anyway, I moved semi-permanently to the British Isles, as by then it was 1800-something. I began to cash in my stash of buried treasure and became quite rich. I bought summer homes all over the world and all the finer things of mortal luxury. Once I'd made an appearance in the higher society, other vampires began to seek me out, tales of the power I had and the bloodshed I'd caused on their lips. They made me their king, the King of the Night. I had so much fun it was almost sinful. Wait. It was sinful. Very sinful. Anderson would have had a heart attack.

But enough of that, back to New Mexico. And Katrina. I saved her that day, I don't know what the hell was wrong with me, but I saved her. She became my constant companion from then on; she even slept in my coffin with me. You see police-girl, all my life I'd been respected, feared, hated, degraded. But this one little child, my own little orphan Annie, didn't fear me, or hate me or want me dead. She just wanted to play in the mud with me. And soon she wanted to play other games with me. She loved me.

That was so important once, so necessary. To just be loved, to know that someone loved you. Not just liked you because you had something they wanted, or tolerated you because they had to. Someone who genuinely cared. –

-Master, I. Thank you, for telling me all that. I know you don't like to share much. But, why did it take you so long to get to Romania? –

-What? You think I just traveled? I conquered, I killed, I looted and burned. I took over entire feudal systems imposed my rule until no one was left alive and then moved on. I spent those years building my reputation and my fortune. –

-And your wardrobe. – She giggled, eyeing his archaic suit.

-It's not that old. – He snipped, suddenly self-conscious in his normal clothing. Why did he care what his child thought of how he dressed? That was stupid. In more ways than one.

Seras watched her master; highly aware of the great gift she'd been given. She doubted many people knew what he'd just told her. She leaned over the armrest of the chair and placed a small kiss on the corner of his mouth.

"Thank you." She whispered.

"Anytime." He said, recovering his cool and pulling the brim of his hat back over his eyes.

-Really master, I enjoyed it. –

-Don't get too excited police-girl, it's ancient history. –

She smiled and settled down next to him, her head neatly placed on his shoulder, her nose buried in the thick red cloth. She had a moment to think that it was softer than it looked before sleep over took her and she slipped into the realm of dreams where her master waited for her with open arms.

End part 4

Next part: Bran Castle (which actually exists).


	5. Become Blood

Beginning's End By: Lazeralk Standard disclaimers apply. "Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end." – Semisonic  
  
Part 5  
  
"On your feet police-girl." Said Arucard, his child had slept the entire flight. Seras blinked groggily up at her master, her ruby eyes impossibly huge as she fought her sleepiness in a truly kittenish manner. She yawned, showing dainty fangs and small pink tongue.  
  
"Up." He repeated, struggling not to laugh at the adorable image she made.  
  
"Yes sir." She said climbing to her feet. The skirt of her uniform had ridden up around her legs as she slept and wrinkled horribly. She looked down at it and smoothed it as best she could, but it was no use. The garment was ruined.  
  
Arucard was torn between laughing at her miserable expression and moving heaven and hell to make it better. He settled on getting her a new outfit in Bucharest.  
  
"Are we there yet?" she asked.  
  
"Of course we're there you nit-wit. Why do you think we've stopped?" snapped Katrina, her clothes, what little of them there were, were perfectly in order. Not a strand of her hair was out of place, and she didn't have bags under her eyes. Seras glared at her.  
  
"Come along you two." Laughed Arucard as he led them to the small exit.  
  
"Master? Where are we?" asked Seras as she looked around. The place was full of rocks and mountains, but the sky was clear, a beautiful sunset paining the clouds with a splendor of color.  
  
"It's beautiful." She said.  
  
"Whatever. Master, I'm hungry, can't we eat now?" whined Katrina.  
  
"We're in Bucharest police-girl, the capital of Romania. We'll leave the jet here and take the manticors up north to Bran. Come on, we can't have you walking in that wrinkled old thing, you'll embarrass me." Said Arucard holding his hand out to Seras and completely ignoring Katrina.  
  
"Yes master." Said Seras shooting a smug look at Katrina as she took his hand. Serves the little wench right.  
  
Katrina fumed for a moment before a sly look entered her eyes and she followed them quietly.  
  
*  
  
Arucard signed as he leaned against the wall, waiting for his child to come out of the dressing room. Blasted females, he'd be damned if he ever did this again. He'd shoot himself in the head if he even considered it. Wait, not the head, it'd be bloody embarrassing if he ran into another wall. Maybe he'd shoot himself in the heart next time.  
  
"Um, Master?" said Seras; trying to pull the hem of the very short, very low necked, black dress she was wearing down. Why had he given her this to try on of all things? There wasn't a mirror in the dressing room, so she'd have to go past her master to get to the one on the wall. She snuck a glance at it and nearly fainted.  
  
"Oh god." She whispered.  
  
"I like it police-girl!" Arucard declared, giving her thumbs up and a crazy smile.  
  
Oh, of course he'd like it, she snarled mentally, the damned pervert!  
  
She walked back into the changing stall and picked up the next outfit. Very tight black pants of some sort of cotton/satin hybrid, a ruby red sleeveless turtleneck and an equally sleeveless black leather trench coat with a high neck, no lapels and a built in waist. It had buttons but no tie, and the hems were trimmed with braided leather. She pulled on her black elbow gloves and opened the stall door.  
  
She held her breath, not even looking at her master, and opened them when she was fairly sure she was facing the mirror. She looked amazing. Exotic and lethal.  
  
"That one." Said Arucard.  
  
"Yeah." Breathed Seras turning this way and that.  
  
Arucard had her take it off and paid for it, and then he had her change back into it and trash her police-girl outfit. He handed her the holsters for her guns one by one and watched her slide into all of them with practiced ease. The guns came next, all except the halconnen, which had been mailed in pieces ahead of them. The Cassul went under her arm; the spare clips with the 13mm explosive FMJ (Full Metal Jacket) rounds went into the tooled leather slots on her belt. The two Berettas were stowed on each hip, the extra clips of 9mm rounds vanished into pouches strapped around her thighs.  
  
The sleeveless trench went over it all and the guns magically disappeared. She smiled and looked to her master for approval. He nodded and led her out of the store, ignoring the horrified look of the shopkeeper who was muttering about invaders to the homeland and cowering under his desk. As soon as they stepped out of the shop, they came. No, not assassins, or werewolves, or vampires or monsters. Men. Lots of them, all very drunk and waving around photos. Seras looked at them with confusion and apprehension. Arucard looked at them with such hatred that a few of them actually stopped.  
  
One of the drunks bravely wrapped his arm around her waist and settled the other hand firmly on her breast. Seras screamed and punched his so hard the bones in his jaw shattered. Arucard mealted into a mass of black ooze with millions of blood red eyes and a mouth so wide he could have swallowed a man whole. His fangs dripped with blood, the razor edges nearly three feet long.  
  
The men, drunk or no, fled for their lives, leaving the photos behind to float gently to the ground before Seras' and Arucard's newly reformed feet to reveal the horror they contained. Seras looked down at the picture and gasped. They were of her, turning this way and that in the tiny black dress she'd been wearing about an hour ago. Some one had taken pictures through the shop window and given them to all the men in the bar across the street.  
  
Arucard glanced at the picture, did a double take and then stiffened. He whole face shut down, his maniacal grin gone as if it never were, his eyes reflected blood, cold and dispassionate. He became the blood, because blood doesn't care how much you scream.  
  
His body dissolved into bats and took to the sky, leaving Seras standing alone.  
  
"Master!" she called, reaching after him, but he didn't turn back. She let her hand drop and stood outside the little shop all by herself in a strange country, where she was lost.  
  
A moment passed and a horrible scream rent the air, coming from the direction her master had gone. Seras broke into a run and then leapt for the rooftops. She hadn't been dead nearly eighty years and learned nothing, she'd overcome her fear of heights and learned to jump farther than humanly possible. Her master had taught her to think like a vampire and not a human. She was beginning to understand that.  
  
She bounded from roof to roof, sliding on the clay shingles and eroded wood planking. Faster, she pushed her body; she ran and leapt, dodging chimneys and vents. Finally she came to the end of the roofs and the smell of blood freshly spilled reached her senses.  
  
Below her, struggling to breathe and scream through the massive hole in her chest was Katrina. Arucard stood over her, one of her deflated lungs hanging limply from his fingers, staring down at her, his face blank and empty as a perfect sky.  
  
"I will not tolerate such childishness. I will not tolerate such disrespect. You are not so precious to me that I would not kill you fledgling. Dishonor me again like that and I will kill you."  
  
Seras had never been more terrified of her master than at that moment. The fear gripped her heart and she let her instincts guild her. 'Run!' they said and that's what she did, 'here is a predator to big for you, run!' Seras turned and ran, her eyes wide but unseeing, the only image that filled her mind was the precious face of her master, so cold and hard, and the blood on his hands. Would she heal? Could a vampire live without a lung? She didn't know. She didn't know anything.  
  
She just ran, ran until she was on the other side of the city though she didn't know where. She dropped into an alley and found a wall. She turned her back to it and sank to the ground. Her chest was heaving, her eyes still blank with horror, but the adrenalin was wearing off. She wrapped her arms around her knees and fought the shock of what she had just seen.  
  
That hadn't been her master. That had been a stranger, a monster. That man was nothing like Arucard, her master would never do such a thing. But it was Arucard. It was him, and he would. He did, to his own child. His own child. How could he? How could he do such a terrible thing to his own child?  
  
Would he ever do that to her? Would next time be her? Would he rip out her lungs and threaten her life like that? Would he?  
  
Seras cried, the tears snaking down her face in hot rivers because she knew the answer to that question.  
  
Yes. He would.  
  
*  
  
Arucard punched the wall. It obediently crumbled.  
  
Katrina was sitting in the corner with Isabella relearning how to breathe through her half reformed chest.  
  
Why did she have to follow him? Arucard punched the wall again, in a new spot that also crumbled. He was still angry with Katrina for the photo stunt but he was angrier with himself for showing that side of him to Seras.  
  
How could he have been so stupid? He should have taken care of the police- girl first and then gone to sate his bloodlust and anger. But no, he had to be selfish and take his vengeance first and now Seras was missing. He could read her thoughts and would have been able to find her except that Seras herself didn't know where she was and the surrounding alley wasn't giving him any traceable clues.  
  
Damnit. He punched the wall a third time and whole thing just gave up and collapsed. He listened to her thoughts trying to get a clue as to how far she'd run when the questions began. He winced when she asked herself if he would ever hurt her like that, mentally growling. Didn't she know he could never do that? Didn't she know she was too precious to him?  
  
He winced again when she answered the question for him, and hung his head in sadness. He sighed and put fingertips to his temples, ignoring the painful tightening in his chest, and concentrated.  
  
His body began to slowly dissolve into blood and settle on the floor. From that blood a figure began to rise, the blood moving inward as the figure rose, almost as if being sucked in through the bottom. When all the blood had left the floor, a six-eyed hellhound stood fully formed. The dog stretched its back and then leapt for the roofs, sniffing along at his feet for his child's scent.  
  
He jerked his head when he caught it and bounded off in the direction it went, jumping from roof to roof.  
  
* Seras didn't know how long she'd been sitting there but her rear end had gone numb some time ago. It wasn't until a white gloved hand appeared in her vision that she looked up and noticed that the sun had moved several hours worth. Arucard held his hand out to her, his face calm and sad. Her initial reaction of scrambling away caused pain to chase across his eyes and she stopped at seeing it there. Her master was never in pain.  
  
She took a deep shaking breath, still not quite trusting.  
  
"Master?" she whispered.  
  
"Police-girl. I'm still me." He said quietly, not moving, as if he were coaxing a wild animal to his hand.  
  
She sniffed dryly, her tears having run out long ago. She very gently touched his fingertips with hers, not even resting the weight of her hand on his. He grasped her hand and pulled her to him, trying not to see her flinch. He hugged her tight, wrapping his long arms around her.  
  
"I'd never hurt you police-girl." He whispered to her, willing her to believe him.  
  
"Master?" she asked, relaxing slightly against him.  
  
"Never." He promised.  
  
She nodded slightly and wrapped her own arms around his neck, not having to reach far as he was still on his knees.  
  
"Please don't scare me like that again." She said softly, burring her nose in his hair.  
  
"I'll try police-girl."  
  
He pulled back and held her at arms length, just studying her. Then his face broke into his usual crazy grin and he chuckled.  
  
"But I'm a pretty scary guy."  
  
She smiled for him and it was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen.  
  
*  
  
"Where have you two been?" demanded Galina, hands on her hips.  
  
The six manticors lounged around on the rocks, their giant wings fanning them lazily. One of the large rexes had what looked to be the remains of a goat between its fore paws. The beast sunk its massive teeth into the meat and pulled an entire leg off, swallowing the chunk whole.  
  
Arucard watched it was a tinge of jealousy. On his mad search for his child he'd totally forgotten to feed.  
  
He glanced at Seras who was attempting to explain to Galina where they'd been without embarrassing both of them. She showed off her new outfit and the motherly vampire completely forgot about being mad at them. He smirked; she always managed to get him off the hook.  
  
"Let's go. I want to reach the castle before sunrise tomorrow." Said Arucard moving towards the rex with the goat.  
  
"O-key doe-key, let's get going." Said Galina, re-strapping the AKM to her back, making an 'X' with the sawed off shotgun.  
  
The manticors all rose at her words and formed a line before her. She picked the big rex she'd pointed out earlier, Ranja, and climbed on his back. She settled between the large shoulder blades, carefully avoiding the wings and grabbed two great handfuls of the tawny mane.  
  
The other four followed her example, all mounting the manticor nearest to them. The one that was left over snorted at them and took to the air before the others had settled.  
  
"Up." Commanded Galina.  
  
The Manticors rose, their massive leathery wings moving tons of air. The resulting wind flattened the trees and rocks below them, the wood splintering and boulders crumbling with the gale force.  
  
"To Bran Castle." Said Galina, pointing Ranja northward.  
  
The manticors roared, the sound shaking the very air, before rocketing at a blinding speed towards the town of Bran. In seconds they crossed the mountain range, the Transylvanian Alps and the lights of Barsov came into view. The manticors dropped in altitude and Seras was glad she was dead and couldn't get an infection when her eardrums burst from the sudden pressure change.  
  
The monsters and their riders glided the thirty kilometers to the forests that surrounded Bran Castle, the deadly predators utterly silent.  
  
After one of the longest centuries of his life, Arucard laid eyes on his home, the mighty castle that had served as his fortress since he'd taken it in 1390. A wicked smile crossed his lips as he absently ran his gloved fingers through the manticor's mane.  
  
"Home, sweet home." He said, pulling the Jackals from his coat.  
  
"Home, sweet home."  
  
End part 5  
  
Information and pictures of Bran Castle can be found here: http://www.ici.ro/romania/tourism/c_bran.html 


	6. Bran Castle

Beginning's End By: Lazeralk Standard disclaimers apply. "Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end." – Semisonic  
  
Part 6  
  
To my reviewers, I love you guys. Sorry this is taking longer than Drowning in Darkness, my muse insists that everything be as accurate as possible so I have to do lots of research about Romania and guns and stuff. Blame her for the delay, I just type the thing.  
  
D (Xdragon224@aol.com) - Loki, ah yet another thing I had to research. He's actually the god of chaos in Norse mythology, sometimes fire too. He starts out a trickster and then gets progressively more evil. He has a wife and a mistress. His mistress gives him three children, a giant snake who is said to devour the world, a daughter so ugly and evil that Odin make her queen of the dead, and a wolf named Fenrir who kills Odin at Ragnarok. Loki is also credited with tricking the blind god Hodd into killing Odin's son Balder who is god of light and joy. As punishment for this, Odin has Loki tied to three massive boulders and has snakes drip venom on his head all day. His wife, amazingly still loyal, holds a bowl under the snake to catch the venom. However, when she leaves to empty the full bowl the venom drips on him and he screams which is the cause of earthquakes.  
  
Ok, fic.  
*  
  
Seras held the gun barrel up; ready to shoot at the slightest movement. Her back touched the wall and she peered around the corner of a doorway. Galina mimicked her on the other side and Arucard walked right past them throwing all caution to the wind. He entered the hall and was met by a pack of twenty or so werewolves.  
  
The wolves bared their teeth, snapped their powerful jaws and growled low in their throats. Arucard raised both Jackals and began to fire as the wolves rushed him. One of the wolves, standing a good six feet on its hind legs, clamped its teeth around his arm and ripped it out of the socket. Arucard turned and shoved the barrel of his remaining Jackal down the offending wolf's throat and pulled the trigger.  
  
Seras and Galina took up cover positions and began to push back the masses, giving Arucard time to regenerate his arm and retrieve his gun.  
  
Isabella flung her arms wide and thousands of bats erupted from her cloak, appearing as if from thin air. The tiny hunters bit and clawed their way to the bones of the wolves, who howled in pain, swiping at the flurry of leather and fur. They snapped at the bats trying to rid themselves of the distraction. Arucard took advantage of it and calmly picked them off one by one.  
  
"Next!" called Arucard, leading the small group along the halls he knew so well. The manticors followed behind their mistress pausing to rip pieces of the werewolves off as snacks.  
  
"This is the main hall, to your right are original Da Vinci paintings, on your left you'll find my collection of Japanese swords displayed on the wall. I have everything from ceremonial tantos to absurdly long muramasas. And moving on, up the stairs are guest quarters, and the ambassador suits. On the ground level are dining rooms and the ballrooms. Below them are the kitchens and all that other servant stuff." Said Arucard in his best 'tour guide' voice.  
  
"Master, try to be serious." Said Seras sternly as she kept her defensive crouch.  
  
"Who me?" he asked, turning and sticking his tongue out at her. A werewolf was suddenly on his unprotected back and gnawing at his neck.  
  
"See?" demanded Seras as she shot the wolf in the head.  
  
"Yeah yeah, I'll be more careful, mother." He sneered. He brought his guard back up and proceeded up the stairs.  
  
Seras sighed but followed. Katrina had a short knife in each hand and was glaring at everyone. She stomped up the stairs like a pouting child, huffing with irritation.  
  
Isabella lurked near the back a cloud of bats obscuring her figure.  
  
"Where's Loki?" asked Galina, the AKM braced along the inside of her arm.  
  
"Probably in my old room, the twit." Answered the nosfaratu.  
  
"Your old room?" asked Seras excitedly. "Do we get to see it?"  
  
Arucard turned to look at her, arching an eyebrow. Why did she want to see his room? Its not that interesting.  
  
"Sure police girl, whatever you want." He said scanning her thoughts.  
  
-Yea! I get to see master's room! Maybe I can learn some new stuff about him. –  
  
He grimaced, oh boy. This was going to be interesting after all.  
  
When Arucard reached the top step and looked down the hall, he was momentarily caught off guard. Waiting for them there, in neat rows, were some two or three hundred werewolves, all in half-beast form. Behind the werewolves stood a seemingly endless army of ghouls.  
  
"Uh, master? You do have a plan right?" asked Seras as she took in the sight.  
  
"Not really, no. Why?"  
  
Seras just looked at him and changed the clip in her gun.  
  
"Oh c'mon police-girl, it'll be fun." he said.  
  
Seras continued to give him her disapproving look.  
  
Whatever reply Arucard was going to give, was cut off when the wolves rushed them in wave after wave of fur and teeth. Galina, Seras and Arucard stood shoulder to shoulder and mowed them down. Isabella's bats were back in action and even the manticors had joined the fray. Katrina stood behind the all and threw her endless supply of knives at them.  
  
The elder fledgling paused for a moment and watched Seras and her master fight together and was struck with sadness. What had changed? Was is so long ago that it was her standing there, her fighting side by side with Arucard? Was this it, she was just shoved aside to make room for the new kid?  
  
Katrina looked down, idly watching the river of blood as it flowed gently down the stairs, the tide rising as new bodies were split open to add to the flood. Was this how it was going to be from now on? Was she just second best now? Arucard use to be hers, just hers, and now she had to share. Only, it was more than that, she wasn't sharing, she was being utterly replaced.  
  
Katrina looked back up at the man who'd raised her, who made her everything she was, her lover, her friend, her father and teacher and she cried. For the hundredth time in a hundred years, she cried for the loss of her master, but it was very different kind of loss this time. This time there was no hope of being reunited.  
  
*  
  
Arucard had run out of bullets a long time ago, and his arms were soaked through with blood that never cooled, but his face shone with a joy so intense that it made all who saw it shudder. Seras had lost the Cassul and had switched to the Berettas, one in each hand. The werewolves lay in mangled pieces and the ghouls were beginning to advance. Only then did Arucard realize their mistake.  
  
Loki had gotten smarter over the years. By putting the werewolves first, he made all of them run out of blessed bullets. Now the only thing that would kill the ghouls was sheer force of vampiric power. Power they couldn't afford to spend on such a lowlife obstacle.  
  
"Damnit." He whispered.  
  
"Master?" asked Seras, her voice shaking with fright as she too realized their problem.  
  
"Galina? Can the manticors handle them?" asked Arucard.  
  
"Maybe." Said Galina as she watched the slowly advancing ghouls.  
  
"They can if I stay to help." Called Isabella, her bats hovering around her.  
  
"You guys go ahead, I'll take care of them."  
  
Isabella then glowed the crimson power and her army of bats froze in mid- air. Each bat began to convulse, twitching and screaming. Their bodies began to grow, larger and larger until from wingtip to wingtip they measured four feet. The giant bats opened their mouths to reveal rows of razor teeth set in cherry red gums.  
  
"Well that's bloody brilliant." Whispered Seras as she watched them, held in awe. There were so many things she still couldn't do, things she wished she could do so she'd be better in a fight.  
  
Arucard grinned at them.  
  
"That's great Isabella. See you in a few."  
  
With a jaunty wave he pulled the other three girls down the west corridor and began humming as he ripped the heads off a few straggling ghouls. They walked along the quiet halls searching for only Arucard knew what when a human crossed their path.  
  
"Va-!" he cried, tossing the tray he'd been carrying behind him in his attempt to raise his hands to cover his face.  
  
Arucard raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Va-! Vampire!" the man finally exclaimed.  
  
Arucard arched the other eyebrow, and then smiled wickedly, flashing his fangs.  
  
The man screamed, fear oozing off him in waves as his hands blindly searched his pockets for something. He smiled triumphantly when he found it and held a large clove of garlic to the nosfaratu's face.  
  
"Back ye fiend of hell!" cried the man, trying to shove the garlic into our hero's mouth.  
  
Arucard blinked at the man, silently marveling at his utter stupidity. Then he burst out laughing, one hand covering his eyes as he mocked his latest challenger.  
  
"Garlic?" asked Seras in disbelief.  
  
"Oh, for the love a'-how stupid can you be?" she demanded.  
  
Arucard stopped laughing abruptly and snatched the garlic out of the man's hand. He crushed it and then sprinkled the pieces in the man's head.  
  
"Perfecto!" he said in a very bad Italian accent, kissing the tips of his fingers. He then grabbed the man by the collar and sunk his fangs into his neck. He fed deeply, and then tossed the corpse on the floor absently. He smiled happily then continued prowling the hall.  
  
He passed closed doors that Seras itched to open until they came across a plain cream colored one with the knob torn out and a bone hanging in the hole. He pushed the door open and blinked into the blinding light. Hanging from his wrists, suspended about half a foot off the ground was a vampire with long chestnut brown hair that hung in tight rows of curls to his waist.  
  
"Hallow." Said Arucard, wonder in his voice.  
  
"Mikado?" asked the vampire lifting his head at the sound and showing them his pupil less white eyes. Seras gasped at the sight he made, so much beauty all ruined by those blank unseeing orbs.  
  
Arucard went to him, touching him gently on the cheek.  
  
Hallow had been starved, his body coated with dried blood, all his muscles atrophied, his bones showing clearly though his paper like skin. His right leg was missing from the knee down, the severed tendons dangling uselessly.  
  
"My name is Arucard now, old friend." The elder vampire said softly.  
  
"Names mean nothing." Replied Hallow and they shared a smile, a secret smile as if the plain words were some sort of inside joke.  
  
"No," agreed Arucard. "They don't."  
  
"Listen to me, my king. Loki has made a pact with something far worse than werewolves. You must leave at once and return only when you have an army. The pure evil of his new allies has shrouded the castle in eternal night. When the sun rises in the morning you'll see what I mean, but now you must go." Said Hallow quickly.  
  
"No. I'll not leave you behind."  
  
"Master!" cried Seras holding the new would on her shoulder. Arucard spun to face a creature he had hoped to never see again. A greater demon had Katrina in one hand and a sword with Seras' blood on it in the other. Galina lay against the wall, the sawed off shotgun inches from her fingers. She was out cold.  
  
Arucard roared with rage and hellhounds erupted from his body, he extended his arm and snatched up the shotgun, pumped in a round and fired the same instant the hounds struck. The beast roared and flung Katrina's limp body at him. He caught her and placed her gently on the ground at his feet. She winced but pulled out her throwing knives.  
  
Seras rushed to Galina's side and found that the older vampire had saved her Cassul and stuck it back in the holster. She dug in the pouches attached to her belt and pulled Galina's last Browning with two extra clips.  
  
She spun and began firing, two handed at the demon that was waving around the sword with deadly accuracy. Katrina had hit all the major organs and joints she could think of with her knives and was struggling to keep pulling her arm back. Arucard's familiars were pulling off chunks of meat and the rounds from the shotgun and the Browning were taking their tool. Still the demon didn't waver. It never stopped or even flinched, it's body was being reduces to scraps but it hardly blinked.  
  
Suddenly, a voice that none of them recognized save Hallow echoed through the room.  
  
"Well, look what we have here. Mikado the mighty king returning from slavery to try and take my kingdom from me. Tisk tisk, slave. You might think you can win Mikado, but you're wrong. You're nothing now, and I've got the power. I'm the King of the Night and you're just a washed up no body. Why don't you run home to your master little dog? You'll never be anything but yesterday's news." The voice sneered.  
  
The demon waved its massive hand and the vampires nearly choked on the magic. The power slammed into them and then crawled along inside their skin like slow moving lava. Light erupted all around them and they screamed. The light over took them and then faded into the darkness.  
  
*  
  
When Arucard awoke, he was laying on his back in the forest outside the castle. The sun was at its peak in the sky but just as Hallow had said, the castle was covered with night. Seras, Katrina and Galina were also there, all of them still deeply unconscious.  
  
Blood trickled from various wounds on the two youngest, but Galina seemed fine. Arucard sighed; Isabella and all the manticors were missing.  
  
As if summoned by his thoughts Isabella came through he trees, looking exhausted but unhurt. Her bats once again hung from her shoulders, but only two of the manticors had made it out alive. Ranja and his mate Ahmiyn.  
  
"Damnit." Said Arucard as he stood. He watched as the others began to wake up, silently glaring at the castle. If Loki had somehow forged a pact with demons, then they were screwed. The only thing that had let him kill the first two demons he'd come across had been the Blade to Call All Darkness and last he saw, it had been destroyed with the last demon he'd killed. Hadn't it? He didn't know, but none of them could find it after that so they assumed it had been destroyed. It hadn't contacted Seras in a good eighty years.  
  
Taking back his kingdom was going to be a lot harder than he originally thought it would be. He also had to get Hallow out of there. Loki would pay for what he'd done; he'd pay most dearly.  
  
End part 6 


	7. Shadow Returns

Beginning's End By: Lazeralk Standard disclaimers apply. "Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end." – Semisonic Part 7  
  
Seras fought the drag of sleep, her eyes feeling glued together as she tried to wake up. When she finally did manage to get her eyes open the sight that greeted her sent her screaming and scrambling. One of the manticors had grown curious about her and was sniffing her face when she'd decided to rejoin the waking world, terrifying the small blonde and sending her master into fits of laughter.  
  
"Ranja!" scolded Galina, glaring sternly at the beast.  
  
"Master!" cried Seras in dismay. He always seemed to be laughing at her.  
  
Katrina was back in her master's lap, much more subdued than normal, just cured up with him. Isabella was gone and Galina was sitting between her two remaining manticors, her face mournful for the four whom she'd lost. Seras calmed down and sat up against a tree in the clearing they were currently occupying.  
  
"Master? Now what do we do?" she asked.  
  
Arucard opened his mouth to speak but was rather rudely cut off.  
  
"You go back." Said a voice that send both Arucard and Seras' heads spinning.  
  
"Miss Shadow!" cried Seras in delight. The shadow walker was leaning against a tree, her kohl black eyes and raven hair no different from when they'd last seen her all those years ago.  
  
"Shadow?" asked Arucard.  
  
The woman nodded.  
  
"Prove it." Demanded the nosfaratu coldly.  
  
"You." She said, hands on her hips.  
  
"Are still sickeningly skinny."  
  
Arucard laughed, he pushed Katrina gently off of him and then stood, cracking his back at he did.  
  
"I don't know if I believe you. The only way I'll know for sure is if you fight me." He said, pulling the Jackals out of his coat and replacing the clips with the normal bullets he always kept on him for ghouls or vamps he wanted to torture for information.  
  
"My pleasure." She said, her hands extending only slightly. Her stance didn't change however and she didn't look ready for a fight in the least.  
  
Arucard grinned wickedly and charged, putting a bullet in her head and heart simultaneously. She moved just slightly and then vanished, only to reappear inside her opponents guard. She slammed a fist into his jaw from below sending his flying backwards. He grinned, flipped and landed gracefully on his feet.  
  
She shifted her weight to one leg, throwing her hips out and mocking him with a bored expression. He lifted both guns and emptied the clips into her body, blowing away large chunks of her flesh. She mealted into shadows and reformed two feet in front of him a sword in her hands and executing the same move she'd pulled on him before, slicing him into twelve pieces.  
  
"Now do you believe me?" She asked with a smile.  
  
"Oh I don't know." He said before sliding to the ground looking like steaks that hadn't been packaged yet.  
  
"Yeah right, you believed me all along, you just wanted to fight." She said.  
  
The pieces of his body mealted into blood and bits of decaying flesh before he reformed and pulled new clips out for his guns.  
  
"Well, there is that." He agreed, even as he opened fire. The bullets sunk home again and she sighed dramatically before she pulled another sword out of her stomach. With a smirk she tossed it to him and darted in to knock both guns from his hands. No sooner had the guns left; he grasped the sword's hilt.  
  
The Jackals went spiraling into the woods where both Seras and Katrina jumped to retrieve them. Shadow looked down and saw a thin line of red beginning to form along her stomach. It seemed that Arucard had gotten in a strike while she'd been knocking the guns away. He'd gotten better.  
  
She smiled and then slid into a complex stance, one foot hyper extended before her, the other crouched, ready to pounce. The blade was leveled at her shoulder, hiratzuki* style. She moved fluidly, her weight being transferred to her forward leg by her other which was extending giving her a pivot point as she increased her momentum. As she reached the climax of her shift, she thrust her arms forward, the sword shooting through the air at hyper speed.  
  
Arucard blocked, turning the blade back at an awkward angle for her, she spun to compensate and the sword bit into the side of his chest, he stopped it from going further and then pushed it away, reaching into strike before she could recover. His blade hit her on the shoulder and would have cut her in half had she not moved downward with the movement of the sword and slid backwards off the blade.  
  
The wound healed instantly. The score stood at Arucard: two, Shadow: one.  
  
Shadow swept her blade up and it clashed with his, sending sparks into the air. They danced, the blades meeting and crashing. Seras, Katrina and Galina watching as the fight went back and forth, neither gaining hold over the other. Arucard eyes flashed and he lunged for an opening in her defenses, she shot forward with an attack of her own and they struck in the same instant sending blood everywhere.  
  
Shadow pulled her blade free and leapt backwards off of his. She stuck the blade into her own stomach and the vampire paused to watch as she seemingly gut herself. The blade went half way in and she stood there for a moment before vanishing and reappearing behind him, his own gun to his temple and the rest of the sword, now a knife, in his back. She pulled the trigger and the new score was Arucard: three, Shadow: four.  
  
"Um, guys? Shouldn't we be discussing what we're going to do when we go back to the castle?" asked Seras.  
  
"Just a minute police-girl." Promised Arucard as he switched his grip on the sword and plunged in backwards into his opponent. Shadow moved the gun to his neck in retaliation and blew his newly reformed head off. The severed body part landed not three inches from Katrina's feet. She screamed long and loud, her face filled with terror as her master's disembodied head grinned up at her.  
  
"Oh shut up Katrina. Its not that bad." He told her even though he didn't have any lungs at the time. There was just something about defying the laws of nature that really did it for him. Katrina stopped screaming but the look of horror seemed fixed to her face.  
  
Shadow picked up the empty magazines and shadow morphed the swords back into bullets. She then led Arucard's decapitated body back to his head, where he leaned down and picked it, reattaching it with a sickening squish.  
  
He loudly cracked his neck twice before sighing with satisfaction and giving his elder child his usual maniac grin. He turned to Shadow who handed him his gun and the two extra clips.  
  
"You win this round, but I'll get you later." He promised as he took them and stored them back in his coat. The shadow walker just smiled pleasantly at him.  
  
"Master? The assault on Bran?" asked Seras.  
  
"That's right Arucard. Focus will you?" said Galina from her spot between the massive manticors.  
  
Arucard childishly stuck his tongue out at her.  
  
"We'll go in through the lower levels. There's a dungeon down there full of vampires bound with chains made from blessed crosses." Said Shadow, her voice low and steady.  
  
"Wait a second, why are you here Shadow? The last time you were in this world it was only because you need my vampire expertise to find the one who'd trapped your people." Demanded Arucard watching her suspiciously.  
  
"When my people returned, we used most of our power to seal the demons in their own world. We set warding on both sides of the dimensional gate. Some vampire, some ignorant child called Loki has broken the seals with the help of a fallen demi-god. Fenrir and Loki broke the seals and are inviting demons across the boundary on the condition that they serve them in exchange for the flesh of their fellow vampires."  
  
Suddenly Galina gasped, one delicate hand to her lips.  
  
"That's why! I've been sending letters to the castle, to our old allies and friends. I didn't think he'd be strong enough to cage them, but I didn't get any responses. All of our allies must be down in the dungeon." She said with fever.  
  
"So that's why you wanted to go in through the dungeon. It still doesn't explain why you're here."  
  
"I don't care about the other vampires dying, that's off world politics to me, but I hate that some one messed with all my hard work, and I hate demons in any circumstance. My primary mission is to decontaminate this world and replace the seals, but I'll kill them with any excuse." She said coldly, her fingers flexing as if around the hilts of her deadly shadow blades.  
  
"Ah, bloodlust then, I can certainly understand that. So, we'll attack at dusk. Loki won't be feeding them and they'll probably all look like Hallow did. They won't be strong enough to move during the day." Said Arucard.  
  
"I'll get us in through the wall. There are a few werewolf guards, maybe twenty for the entire complex." Said Shadow.  
  
"Wait, shouldn't we wait for Isabella to get back before we plan all this?" asked Katrina.  
  
"She's feeding her bats. All three thousand of them. Do you really want to wait that long?" returned her master.  
  
"Oh." She said, looking sullen. Seras glanced at her before moving to stand at her master's side. She offered the Jackal she'd retrieved from the forest, her master smiled at her and pocketed the gun. Katrina saw her and checked her back pocket for the gun she'd gotten only to discover that it was missing. Shadow smiled at her.  
  
"You little thief!" roared Katrina. Shadow scowled and stood up straight. She towered over the petite redhead by a good foot and a half. Katrina lost some of her anger and Shadow smirked smugly.  
  
"Anyways." Said Arucard, effectively ending the conflict between the two women.  
  
"If we can take out the werewolves before we free the others they can feed while we get Hallow. Then, when their finished, we'll leave them to take the rest of the wolves while we get Loki and this demi-god of yours."  
  
"Loki won't be a problem unless he's siphoning energy from the demons. I couldn't get a clear reading, there's too much demonic power collected there. It's Fenrir you want to watch out for. He's a demi-god, and a fallen one at that. Demi-gods aren't actually gods; they're the inhabitants of another dimension that are six or seven steps higher on the evolutionary chain than humans. They use to visit this plane quite frequently which resulted in much chaos and myths. The Shadow Walkers had to seal them away too. Fallen demi-gods are cast out of their dimension and loose power as they age. Fenrir has been here for about six thousand years. He shouldn't be that's strong anymore, but he's still a force to be reckoned with."  
  
"So, he can be killed?" asked Arucard.  
  
Shadow smiled.  
  
"Yes, he can be killed.  
  
"Good, that's all you had to say."  
  
Shadow scowled at him and he laughed.  
  
"Ok, go hunt and be back here at dusk." He said turning to speak to the others.  
  
"Yes master." Said Seras as she dusted off her new leather coat. She wandered off into the forest in search of prey, not really knowing what she was doing. Galina whispered in the ear of one of her manticors and the beast stood and followed the small blonde. Arucard went off to hunt on his own and Katrina followed. Galina took the last manticor and Shadow was left standing in the clearing.  
  
She put her back to a tree and dissolved into shadow, sinking into the dark.  
  
*  
  
Seras had her gun out again, her posture combat ready. Shadow was moving them through the Shallows so that they wouldn't be detected by their enemies. They came upon a wall and a large black gate, looking much like slowly moving tar spread itself across the bricks at Shadow's command.  
  
One by one, the small group moved through the gate and disappeared.  
  
End part 7 


	8. The Ball Room

Beginning's End By: Lazeralk Standard disclaimers apply. "Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end." – Semisonic Part 8  
  
To my reviewers, thanks for your comments and encouragement, it means the world to me, I love you all. So sorry that this chapter took so long to get out, my muse went on a tangent with one Jareth King of Goblins and Julian the Shadowman from Forbidden Game. But, I sat down watched Hellsing all over again and now you have a new chapter. Sorry about the delay!  
  
* Loki, a young looking vampire of five hundred years with shoulder length black hair, leaned back in the huge black bed, an enraged Olivia glaring at him from where she knelt on the floor.  
  
Fenrir watched the scene with mild amusement. The huge wolf god was permanently trapped in half beast form, his elongated paws rest on the edge of a sixteenth century armoire with hand painted lacquers. He grinned toothily as the human struggled to get her due from the devil.  
  
"You promised Loki. You gave me your word. My term has been over for a week now and I want my reward." She said in as controlled a voice she could manage. Her long brown hair was brushed clean and straight, the soft curls giving it a luxurious look. She look rather silly kneeling on the floor wearing the latest Armani fashions.  
  
"Oh?" said Loki, his deep rolling alto pleasing to the ears.  
  
"And what did I promise you my sweet?" he asked his voice laced with honey.  
  
"You said you'd use your influence to make me a star. You promised me a modeling career. I held up my end of the bargain, now it's your turn." She said, daring to risk a glance at his face.  
  
"Oh yes." He said stroking his small goatee. He gave the top of her head a wicked smile.  
  
"Yes, you did hold up your end of the deal didn't you? Whoring yourself on the streets to gather information for me, and you did a very good job of it. In fact, you did such a good job of it that I think I'm going to keep you there. Indefinitely."  
  
He pulled himself off the bed and walked around her kneeling form. He leaned down and tiled her chin up to meet his eyes, oh so gently.  
  
"After all, you make such a good whore." He told her nastily before he shoved her roughly to the floor. He stood and turned his back to her.  
  
"Now get out of my sight."  
  
Olivia bit her lip and retreated slowly out the door her eyes burning with rage.  
  
"Fenrir?"  
  
"Yes, oh great one?" mocked the wolf god.  
  
"Have someone kill her."  
  
Loki sat down and pulled out a very old book. The pages were faded and worn but painstakingly clean. Someone had put a lot of work into keeping the book in good condition. On the cover, written in Sanskrit, the oldest written language known to man was a single word: Lamia.  
  
He opened the book and flipped through the pages until he came upon a sketch of a black blade being pulled from the stomach of a vampire.  
  
*  
  
There were cages everywhere, lining the walls and in neat rows down the center of the room. Hundreds of vampires were cramped into the cages; their too thin bodies huddled together near the center. The edges of the metal prisons glowed with an unearthly light coming from the large crosses tied to the bars.  
  
"Oh no." whispered Seras in anguish. She'd never seen so much suffering in one place before.  
  
-Find and kill the werewolves as quietly as possible. – Came Arucard's command. The vampires spread out, the paws of the manticors made no sound on the floor as they hunted.  
  
A werewolf paused and sniffed the air; wicked claws replaced his human fingers as he detected just the slightest disturbance. A huge blade came flying out of nowhere and hit him solidly in the throat. Katrina pulled the knife free and slit what was left of his windpipe before the doomed wolf could utter a sound. She then pulled the corpse towards the bars of the closest cage. The captive vampires moved, stirred by the scent of blood.  
  
She smiled at them and put a finger to her lips. They obediently settled, hope flashing in their eyes.  
  
Arucard snuck up behind a werewolf patrolling the catwalks and grinned widely, this was so much fun! He wrapped an arm around the wolf's waist and spun him around catching his chin and forcing their eyes to meet. He captured the wolf's mind and then whispered a single word in to his ear. The wolf dropped to the ground, dead.  
  
Galina crept up behind the wolf she'd been stalking and in one quick movement snapped his neck. She caught the body as it fell and gently placed it on the ground. Smiling evilly, she went in search of her next victim.  
  
Seras very slowly and quietly screwed a silencer onto the barrel of her Beretta. She watched as a werewolf passed where she waited in the shadows and then aimed for his throat. She pulled the trigger and only a tiny click from the inner workings of the gun sounded. The wolf collapsed, his yellow eyes fixed and glaring at her. She grimaced at the expression of her target and quickly moved on.  
  
Shadow walked the Shallows, her black blades moving soundlessly as she decapitated one wolf after another, the shadows that trailed behind her in a rolling fog catching the bodies and laying them on the ground silently.  
  
A howl broke the air as the scent of too much blood spilt reached the senses of the remaining wolves. The vampires under Arucard dropped all stealth and attacked with fury. Blades flashed blood flowed and soon all the vampires were hissing and moaning, begging for blood.  
  
"Galina?" Said Arucard, breaking the silence that had settled over them and walking to the closest cage. The blonde vampire motioned the manticors forward, her slender hands graceful despite being covered with blood.  
  
"Shadow?" he called in a similar manner, watching as the shadow walker drew her police-baton blades and began cutting the cages open. The manticors gripped a bar in their massive teeth and pulled entire doors off their hinges.  
  
Vampires flowed out of the cages; graceful and deadly even in their monstrous hunger. They fell upon the dead wolves and fed, bathing in the blood, liking it off each other as to not waste a drop.  
  
Arucard leapt on top of a cage and rose to his full height. He looked out over the mass of vampires and thought for a moment before clearing his throat and beginning to speak. A hush fell over the captives as they watched him, unsure of what to make of him.  
  
"Hear me, I am Arucard, once called Mikado. I am your rightful King, returned to you after a century of servitude. Humans and wolves will never be a part of the Blood Circles once I am king again, do as you wish but know that if you stand against me you will die a true death. If you wish to feed then please feel free to eat as many mortals as you like, but Loki is mine. " He declared. The vampires rose to their feet, and moved towards him. The bodies that they left behind were stark white and shriveled, stiff like specimens pulled out of formaldehyde for dissection.  
  
With one final insane grin he turned and walked up the stairs, the others following.  
  
A vampire with long wavy black hair smiled and raised his arms in praise.  
  
"Arucard, King of the Night!" he yelled, the freed vampires following suit. The dungeon filled with the sounds of their hail for the return of the true king. Arucard turned and caught the eye of the vampire that had spoken. He nodded briefly and then continued down a hall. They moved up the stairs watching as their leader vanished into a room. With a howl of blood lust and rage the dark haired vampire lead his fellow kin into the castle searching for enemies.  
  
*  
  
Arucard ducked into the room he knew held Hallow. His old ally looked as if he'd taken quite a beating, fresh lines of blood ran down his pale skin and one of his snowstorm eyes had been torn out. The chains jerked when the sound of the door opening reached the blind one's sensitive ears.  
  
"It's me Hallow."  
  
"Mikado. No, Arucard. I hunger." He said, his voice thin from screaming. Shadow, one step ahead of them, dropped a cooling werewolf corpse at his feet. She casually cut his chains with two lightning fast strikes.  
  
Hallow fell on the wolf with primal hunger, ripping the throat open and gorging himself on the blood. Normally it was impossible for a vampire to drain an adult humanoid dry in one feeding, but the blind one did just that, making up for a century of starvation.  
  
"Arucard, in your old room, embedded in a black stone is a sword of great power. Loki has been using it to keep the gates of the demon world open. You must stop him." Said Hallow, his unseeing eyes gazing up at the vampire he called master.  
  
"Let's get you out of here old friend." Said Arucard as he absorbed the information. Could it be? No, the blade was destroyed.  
  
Hallow stood on shaky legs and smiled briefly at the nosfaratu.  
  
"We've got wolves coming!" called Seras her hands gripping the Cassul in one hand a Beretta in the other.  
  
No sooner had her master turner around wolves poured in through the door, moving as a single mass entity. Seras opened fire, quickly draining her guns dry before pocketing the Beretta punching the nearest wolf in the jaw and slamming a new clip into the Cassul. A wolf ducked her bullet and raked his claws down her front, spilling her blood and tearing a scream from her throat. Arucard was suddenly there, driving his hand through the beast's chest. Seras sighted over his arm and continued firing.  
  
Galina had long since run out of ammo for the AKM and had switched to the pair of Browning Hi-Powers she kept strapped to her thighs. Ranja and his mate were both showing signs of wounds but the pile of bodies around them was growing rapidly. The manticors had taken to shooting poisonous barbs from their tails instead of ripping their enemies apart with their teeth.  
  
Katrina had stopped throwing her knives, what precious few their were left and was instead carving the wolves up. Her blades were silver plated and worked just as well on wolves as they did on vampires.  
  
Shadow's back was pressed to the ground, twenty or so wolves were scrambling to get their claws into her from above and kept getting their hands chopped off. She paused for a moment and a wolf tore open her throat while another sank it's teeth into her leg. She grimaced before mealting into the Shadows beneath her and moving to the shadow on the ceiling. From there she positioned her blades facing down and at an angel, her arms crossed over her chest. She pushed with her feet off the ceiling and spiraled downward, her blades whipping through flesh and bone like the blades of blender.  
  
Arucard was laughing like a madman, his body looking more like a floating mass of tar with hundreds of blood red eyes, hellhound heads rearing up from every direction. His face was intact, if somewhat oddly positioned, and he was smiling merrily at the carnage he was wreaking on the mortal dog- men.  
  
Isabella's bat had one again grown to monsterous proportions and her own body had shifted, her long cape becoming actual bat wings. She hovered over the battle field, directing her bats like a general directing troops. Her already elongated fangs grew to the size of small daggers as they hung from her hyper extended jaws.  
  
The tide of wolves ebbed and then died, leaving the sudden silence ringing in their ears. Hallow spooped to feed from the piles of bodies and his multiple wounds began sealing up. The rest of the vampires left the room, looking around for more targets. By the time Hallow walked out of the hellhole he'd been imprisioned in for the past century, he was fully healed. He donned the white shroud that had marked him long ago and held the snake-headed stalf that guided him. The eyes of the metal serpent glowed with the touch of it's master, the hissing voice calling to it's kin. A small black basilisk wound it's way up Hallow's arm, looking at his unseeing eyes. The vampire was the only creature immune to it's gaze, the only creature worthy of being it's master.  
  
Arucard led his vampires down the twisting halls of his castle towards the grand ball room. He pushed open the massive mahogany doors and flicked the lights on. A beautiful crystal chandelier lit the room with it's hundreds of mock candles. The veined marble floor glowed golden, the forest green and royal red walls gleamed at him as if from the painting of a great artist.  
  
At the center of the room stood a young man with his back to them, he was weraing black slacks and a black and silver vest with a white dress shirt underneath. His short black hair was slicked back with a generous amount a gel and it shone in the light. He didn't turn whent the door opened, but waited until they were all assembled in the room. Seras ran to the side, lay down on the floor and set up her halconnen. Katrina scowled at the blonde but moved opposite her and pulled her throwing knives. Hallow, Galina and Shadow moved to flank Arucard who hadnt moved an inch. Isabella lurked behind him, guiding her bats into the room. Once all of them were inside, the doors slammed shut of their own accord.  
  
The man turned to face them, giving them a lazy look through red eyes and a small smile. His gotee was well trimmed and somewhat pointed, and a large red gem was pinned to the collar of this shirt. He regarded the No Life King cooly before smiling a bit broader, revealing dainty fangs.  
  
"Mikado." Said the vampire in way of greeting, his posture radiating confidence.  
  
"Loki." Snarled Arucard. He smiled nastily at the usurper and tucked both of his guns away. He'd promised himself that he'd rip the bastard apart with his bare hands and he was nothing if not a man of his word.  
  
"I hope you're ready to die whelp." Said Arucard.  
  
Loki smiled back and then put his hands behind his back. When he drew them forth again the Blade to Call All Darkness pulsed between his fingers and his gave former King his own nasty smile.  
  
"The same to you Mikado. The same to you."  
  
End chapter 8 


	9. The Really Long Fight Scene part 1

Beginning's End By: Lazeralk Standard disclaimers apply. "Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end." – Semisonic Part 9  
  
To my reviewers, thank you so much for remaining loyal, here's the really long ass fight scene part 1. Let the war begin.  
  
*  
  
Seras gasped. She'd have sworn that the blade had been destroyed. She mentally called for her own unique child, but was met with stony silence. She frowned but readjusted her aim as not to hit the sword. She called again, but still she received no answer.  
  
"Do you really believe that little toy will help you? You're nothing but a maggot usurper, unworthy of even the lowest circles of Hell. The Blade to Call All Darkness was birthed from the womb of my child; Allen will not obey one so weak. I could have crushed you with all of my seals in place and now that I am free of my human master you don't stand a chance against me." Mocked Arucard, his free hand drawing his gun and then aiming it casually.  
  
He fired all the bullets in rapid succession until he'd emptied the clip. Loki arched one elegant eyebrow. Shadow staggered under the unexpected assault, but kept her feet. The eighteen bullets now embedded in her stomach were giving off a slight smoke as her skin closed up around them.  
  
"Sword?" she asked.  
  
"Yes, match the length if you would." He told her, not moving his eyes from Loki's coolly grinning form.  
  
Shadow drove her hand into her stomach and pulled the sword out. She placed the tip of one of her shadow blades to the hilt and watched as the shadows melted the metals and coated the handle of the new sword with a shadowsteel that was non-detrimental to vampires. When she was finished she tossed the weapon to the true nosfaratu.  
  
Arucard caught the blade without looking at it and held it loosely in one hand.  
  
"Oh, and by the way scum, my name isn't Mikado anymore. It's Arucard."  
  
Loki simmered on the inside but gave his former master a snide smirk. He held a hand up and then snapped his fingers. Werewolves, standing seven feet tall, all in half beast form emerged from the shadows that coated the walls. They stood in a single line behind their vampire master and snarled at their enemies.  
  
Behind them came a second line, but not of werewolves or vampires, the second line consisted of towering ten-foot demons. The hell spawned monstrosities had great arching wings, wickedly curved claws. Huge gaping maws displayed rows of razor teeth embedded on cherry red gums, though they made no sound at all. Their eyes glowed with evil energy, and their black skin glisten in the light like something not quite real. They burned with black power and a malice so deep that it made the air thick with hatred and pain.  
  
From the two side entrances, and the two small servants entrances poured Arucard's newly freed vampires. They were full bodied again, graceful and heartbreakingly beautiful though all were completely covered in blood. The vampire with the long black hair came to stand beside Arucard; he bowed low then whispered in his King's ear.  
  
"My Lord, we are three hundred sixty two strong, and we have all pledged our unlives to you, the rightful King."  
  
"Tell me your name vampire." Said Arucard, his eyes still trained on Loki.  
  
"I am Jonas."  
  
"Jonas. You and Galina will direct the others against the wolves and the demons. Attack the demons together, with as many of you as possible. Protect the Police-girl and Katrina at all costs. Hallow's Basilisks will be able to help with the demons as well, but if he dies they will begin killing indiscriminately." Answered the No Life King.  
  
"As you command my Master." Said Jonas as he moved back and began whispering their orders to the rest of them. Arucard smiled, relishing the sound of that title directed at him.  
  
Hallow tapped his staff on the ground three times and up through the marble floor exploded three massive basilisks, each of their scaled bodies thick as tree trunks. Two of them had their eyes sealed shut but the largest, a good thirty feet in length, was a true cockatrice or fire-breathing serpent. His eyes were wide open and the pale yellow and black orbs stared unblinking at the gathered army, its forked tongue licking the air.  
  
"Time to die!" screamed Arucard as he charged, his sword leveled before him. Loki's face twisted into an ugly snarl as he to engaged in combat. The two swords met and sparked sending the rest of the monsters into action. The werewolves charged, saliva flying from their snapping jaws, the demons moved silently foreword their massive claws raking the ground and leaving pools of hissing poison trailing behind them.  
  
Seras fired her cannon into the mass of fur and death approaching and hurried to reload, not even watching to see if the shell connected with anything or not. An explosion rocked the room as she sighted her next shot, leaving pieces of dead and dying wolves in its wake. The demons shrugged off the blows, continuing their eerie death march. She fired again, still calling for Allen and receiving no answer.  
  
Isabella was once again in the air, her bats swarming around the ceiling and diving down as one mass to attack the wolves. The vampires under Jonas and Galina moved as the two elder vampires shouted orders to them over the roaring din of the battle; they broke into groups of twenty and surrounded the demons. They attacked in tandem forcing the demons to halt and heal themselves as what passed for their flesh was torn from their bodies and black ooze spilled from their wounds like blood. One of the vampires dared to take a taste and immediately fell to the ground as the poison dissolved him from the inside. His echoing screams warned the others not to be so foolish.  
  
Katrina stood beside Hallow, her knives finding the skulls of any wolf that got too close to the blind one. Hallow's head was bowed in concentration as he mentally directed his three massive servants. The two smaller basilisks had opened their eyes and were laying their deadly gaze on any who ventured a look. Two of the demons had fallen to the ground and had yet to get up.  
  
Arucard's sword had left a long gash down Loki's arm that was not healing. Allen had struck him twice in the chest but the wounds sealed up almost instantly, as if his child's sword did not wish to harm him. Loki had already called on the dark blade's power and had received no answer. Arucard grinned insanely and twisted his torso; driving his newly forged blade into the air Loki had occupied a moment before. The younger vampire attempted to return the favor and was rewarded with a bullet in the head, courtesy of Arucard's second Jackal.  
  
Loki's back hit the floor and Arucard laughed manically. Little brat wasn't so hard to kill after all. He tucked his gun away and put a fresh clip into his first Jackal, also tucking it away. Loki's body rose off the floor and reanimated itself. He leapt up and plunged Allen into his opponent's chest and out his back. Arucard coughed up blood and regarded the usurper with new interest.  
  
Loki gripped his blade with both hands and pulled it sharply up, cleaving Arucard's head in two. Where there should have been a mass of blood and internal organs, there was only inky blackness, and hundreds of crimson eyes. The black ooze took on a life of it's own and rose out of Arucard's body like an insect, leaving the discarded husk behind. Then the shell of the man melted and moved of it's own accord to join the growing mass of monstrous black.  
  
Loki gazed up at the new form of the vampire Arucard and fear crossed his face for the first time in a century. Every cell in his body told him to run, that he was no match for this creature, but his body was frozen with terror.  
  
"Come on! Is that the best you've got? Fight me! Fight me damn you!" roared Arucard, hellhound heads exploding from the gelatinous mass, opening their razor toothed maws and snarling at the petrified vampire. Allen pulsed with power, the sword struggling to get free.  
  
-Mother! – He cried into the minds of all who would listen before Loki's face hardened and the fear vanished under his arrogant mask once more and he smothered the blade's power with his own.  
  
"Allen!" cried Seras over the din, though her voice was lost in noise. She had run out of shells for the halconnen and was now using the six-foot barrel as a battering ram to clear a path towards her master. The Cassul was out and being fired almost continuously into the mayhem.  
  
Vampires and wolves fought and bled all around her. She watched as wolf tore out a young looking girl's throat out only to have its neck snapped in half by another vampire. The air above her was suddenly filled with flame as the cockatrice attempted to roast one of the silent demons. She tripped over the carcass of a dead vampire; this one lay on it's back with half of its chest missing. It looked as if someone had eaten their way under the ribs and then torn the heart out. She covered her mouth with the back of her hand and tried not to throw up.  
  
She struggled to her feet, pausing to shoot a wolf in the face, blowing its brains out the back of its head. The blood was thick in the air and threatened to overwhelm her, calling to her own bloodthirsty demon. She bit her lip, then holstered the Cassul in time to lift the halconnen and swing it in front of her, knocking six approaching wolves to the floor. She shot three of them before the remaining half began to stand again. One lunged for her legs and sank its teeth into her shin. She aimed carefully and shot the place where the neck ended and the back began, severing the wolf's spine.  
  
She was momentarily fascinated by the pearly white bone sticking out at an odd angle, before she was drawn back into the chaos that surrounded her. She pushed her way through the battlefield, blood dripping from various minor wounds on her petite body. She pushed along the wall until she was even with her master, who was sending hellhounds against the vampire who'd taken her master's throne. Out of the corner of her eye she caught movement and turned her full attention to it.  
  
Stalking towards Hallow was the biggest, meanest and strangest looking werewolf she'd ever seen. It stood some eight feet tall, it's face both human and canine at the same time and it was wearing some sort of collar around its neck. From the collar hung the broken end of chain, swinging as it moved.  
  
"Hallow!" she yelled, hoping he would hear her. He jerked his head in her direction, then turned towards Katrina as she screamed wordlessly. The giant wolf had driven its claws through the small redhead's body and held her suspended in mid-air like she weighed nothing.  
  
Abandoning her plans to help her master she rushed towards the blind vampire, swinging her cannon back and fourth aimlessly as she ran. She reached Hallow just in time to push him to the ground and out of the way of the big wolf's next strike. Seras chanced a look at him and saw why it had taken so long for the wolf to attack. He'd eaten Katrina. All of her.  
  
Seras stared up at the monster with horror filled eyes, still clutching Hallow's white cloak.  
  
"Cover your eyes!" he hissed at her, pulling her down on top of him and rolling away from the wolf. One of the twenty-five foot death-stare basilisks had answered its master's call and was slithering towards them. The snake flashed fangs at the wolves and vampires that scrambled to get out of the way, many of them falling to the ground with the touch of the serpents gaze.  
  
The big wolf closed his eyes and lashed out with a taloned hand. The snake reared back and then snapped it's powerful jaws, just missing the quick moving wolf. Fenrir ducked his head and looked down at his feet, he used his peripheral vision to watch the snakes belly move across the floor.  
  
A demon was felled by a group of vampires nearby and the dying hell spawn toppled and collapsed right on top of the basilisk. The serpent turned and hissed at the creature, sinking its poison fangs into the meat of the demon. The monster drove its claws into the basilisk in retaliation before succumbing to death. The snake fought, twisting and turning to free itself of the deadweight and the piercing claws still embedded in its body.  
  
Fenrir rushed forward and drove both hands into the snake at neck level, ripping and tearing at the meat. The basilisk shook its head and tossed the wolf into the wall, where he collided and slid the floor in a daze. He shook his great wolf head and spotted Hallow and Seras lying on the ground, Hallow's unseeing eyes turned towards the battle, his hand clamped over the eyes of the small blonde.  
  
He growled at them and stomped towards them, rage twisting his face into something awful. Seras heard his coming and pulled the Cassul free of its holster, aiming blindly. He tried to locate the wolf with her ears but there was simply too much noise in the room. She pulled at Hallow's hand and he let her go, concentrating on perceiving the battle through the senses of his snakes.  
  
The basilisk was attempting to pull the demon's corps off of it with its jaws, and its head was turned away from its master. Seras sighted the Cassul and fired twice into the big wolf's chest.  
  
"Your puny human weapon cannot kill me mortal! I am a God!" Fenrir roared, lifting one massive paw to cut the girl in half. Seras screamed and pulled the trigger again and again and again until there were no more bullets left and still she pulled the trigger.  
  
The basilisks abruptly vanished, their bodies dissolving into the air as Hallow threw aside his staff and pulled Seras out of the way and took the blow meant for her. The wolf's claws came down on his shoulder and split him open to the hip. His agonizing scream rent the air as his heart was shredded and he finally fell to the blood soaked floor in true death.  
  
Arucard paused in his fight with the surprisingly spry Loki as he felt one of his oldest friends die.  
  
"HALLOW!" he bellowed, his voice reverberating through the room.  
  
In his moment of grief and distraction, Loki threw aside the Blade to Call All Darkness, grasped Arucard's blessed sword and sliced the nosfaratu in half. Arucard screamed as the holy blessing burned his flesh and his form collapsed in on itself, the black ooze turning to blood and mixing with the river on the floor until he was completely indiscernible.  
  
End part 9 Please don't be mad at me! 


	10. The Really Long Fight Scene part 2

Beginning's End By: Lazeralk Standard disclaimers apply. "Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end." – Semisonic  
  
Part 10  
  
Don't be mad at me! I'll fix it I swear! It's all my muses fault, blame everything on her!  
  
*  
  
"MASTER!" screamed Seras as pain lanced through her body as if her soul were being torn out of her. Blood tears poured down her cheeks and her spirit broke. Her whole body went numb. Nothing mattered anymore, she didn't know why she was there. Her master was dead. Her whole world came crashing down around her, the tiny shards of her broken dreams slicing into her heart. Her master was dead. The man she loved was dead, and she never even got to tell him.  
  
Rage replaced heartache, rage for the ones who had dared to take the most precious thing in her life away from her. They would all die. Every last one of them. The bloodthirsty beast that lived inside of her took full control of her body and she threw back her head and roared.  
  
She charged the self-proclaimed God at a blinding speed and jumped up into the air upon reaching him. He aimed a slow swipe at her but she dodged and punched him square in the face. She landed on her feet, her back hunched, arms dangling at her sides before growling like an animal and charging again. She raked glove-covered fingers across the wolf's belly and spilled his guts onto the floor.  
  
The wolf-god howled in pain, took one last swing at her that knocked her to the ground, then turned and fled. Seras screamed in primal rage at being denied her kill, then caught the scent of more wolves and grabbed the nearest one but he crown. She bent its head backwards and tore open its neck with her teeth, gorging herself on the blood before tossing the still living beast to the floor. She crushed its face under her booted foot, and searched for her next victim.  
  
Shadow drew both of her Shadowblades down in parallel strikes, hitting the demon on both shoulders and neatly cutting it into three pieces. The demon reformed and got back up again only to be cut down a second time. The shadow walker had been going on like this for most of the battle, completely ignoring the wolves and vampires and focusing solely on the demons. No matter how many times she killed them they just kept coming back.  
  
"Why don't you just die?!" she raged at it, holding her blades braced against her arms and spinning, chopping the demon to pieces that were considerably less neat than the one's she made before. A group of tired and bloodied vampires moved to help her, tearing the pieces into even smaller bits and chunks until there wasn't enough of the demon left for it to regenerate.  
  
She put the tips of her blades into the two inches of standing blood on the floor and leaned on the swords as she caught her breath. The blood around her feet suddenly moved, as if some great animal were stirring just below the surface. She frowned before dismissing it and pulling her blades up to fight again.  
  
Ahmiyn, a set of long gashes running down her flank lifted her scorpion's tail and fired that last of her poisonous barbs. The manticor shuddered as a wolf bit into her back. Ranja lifted one frying pan sized paw and knocked the wolf off his mate, pushing his nose under her chin in an attempt to comfort her. Galina stepped in front of her last children and prepared herself to fight with the only weapons she had left, her own two hands. The wolves' numbers were dwindling, but so were the vampires, only a third of the original force remained standing.  
  
She looked around but couldn't seem to find Arucard. His missing manic laugh made the battle seem somehow fake, as if it wasn't real without him there. Ahmiyn fell on her side, her body shaking with the pain of her injuries. Ranja licked her wounds for her as she dipped her own cats tongue into the pool of blood around them and began to drink.  
  
Isabella's bat like wings beat the air as she continued to pick out targets for her bats. Several of them had fallen, returning to their true size in death. As she hovered over the carnage, she watched Arucard go down, her face expressionless. She dove as quietly as possible and snatched up Loki's discarded blade.  
  
Instantly, the voice of the sword entered her mind.  
  
-Put me down! Take me to my mother! What have you done with her? Why won't she answer me? You stupid vampire wench, you aren't worthy of wielding me! Put! Me! Down! –  
  
Black power coursed through her veins and wracked her body with pain as the sword fought against her. Isabella growled and dropped it, watching as it crashed into the ever-growing pool of blood. The dark liquid splashed and then swallowed up the blade, hiding it from view. Isabella marked the spot mentally and then went back to directing her bats.  
  
Loki was laughing manically, his back bowed, head thrown back in pure psychotic ecstasy.  
  
"I did it! I really did it! I killed Arucard!" he exclaimed before going back to his convulsions inducing laughter.  
  
"Oh shut, up." Came a voice from all around them. Loki abruptly stopped laughing, his insane glee turning into panic.  
  
"No! No its not possible!" he screamed, bringing his hands up before his face as if to ward off a blow.  
  
The world was suddenly swallowed by black, and Loki found himself standing alone in a vast nothingness, his ankles buried in blood. The silence was complete and it rung in his ears louder than anything he'd ever heard before. Eyes, red as the blood he was standing in appeared from everywhere, some were normal sized, some spanned over three feet, all were focused on him.  
  
"You're dead! I killed you! I won! Do you hear me you bloody monster? I WON! The Throne of the Night is MINE! I won, I won, I won damn you, you lost, you lost so why won't you DIE?!" he screeched at the eyes that watched him with pity and disgust, his voice balanced precariously between desperate and stark raving mad.  
  
"You know Loki, as the only one to ever come this close to killing me, I was going to give you a special death. I though you might appreciate it. Now though, now I see that any death would be mercy to you. Still, I would have truly died had I not conveniently landed in a pool of blood with power strong enough to revive me." Said Arucard even though he didn't exactly have a mouth.  
  
"No! No!" screamed Loki, rage twisting his face.  
  
"Yes, yes. Now watch carefully because I'm only going to do this once."  
  
The eyes directly in front of his shifted, moving away from a swirling red mass that grew as the eyes moved. Loki's eyes widened as he looked in horror at the one thing he hoped he'd never see used against him. Fire licked at the edges of what he recognized as a portal to the demon realm.  
  
"Not possible...you...have a...demon portal inside...your body..." he whispered, terror freezing his limbs.  
  
"Why, yes. Where do you think I get all my Hellhounds?" replied Arucard casually, as if trying to make conversation.  
  
"Hell...?" was all Loki got out before the giant head of black dog pushed its way through the portal, the head was followed by a second and then a third. One massive paw slammed into the ground, sending a shower of blood in every direction although not a drop seemed to even touch Arucard's many eyes.  
  
A second paw joined the first and Loki saw that it was not three Hellhounds as he'd first suspected, but one giant three-headed beast. The monster pulled the rest of its body out of the portal and stood before the quivering form of the usurper in all its legendary glory.  
  
"Cerberus." Hissed Arucard, causing the mythological gate guardian to toss its three gargantuan heads and bay.  
  
"Destroy him." Commanded the vampire.  
  
Cerberus lifted one blood-soaked paw and slammed it down on top of his prey, Loki screamed as he was dragged backwards, towards the waiting jaws of the three headed monster. The middle head snapped its jaws at the head on the right, who snapped back. The head on the left joined then and bit the ear of the middle head. They growled at each other, seemingly fighting over which head would get to devour the squirming morsel.  
  
"Now, now boys, play nice. I'm sure you can share your little snack." Chastised Arucard, amusement coating his disembodied voice.  
  
Loki sucked in a breath and screamed again as the teeth of the middle head picked him gently up and held still. He screamed louder when a new set of teeth locked around his legs. His breaking voice was lost as the third head clamped down around his shoulders. As one, the three heads pulled, and Loki was torn into three bite-sized pieces that each of the three heads ground to bits of raw meat and blood.  
  
"Very good Cerberus. Now back you go." Said Arucard. The Hell's Gate beast howled before pressing three slobbering tongues to the black spaces between the eyes, then turning the way it had come and disappearing back into the portal.  
  
The many eyes closed as one and the black faded to reveal Arucard returned to his proper body, standing in the middle of the room with the most annoyingly satisfied smirk on his lips. He turned, his eyes searching for familiar faces.  
  
Seras had gone totally insane, her conscious mind suspended from reality as her body ripped through friend and foe alike. Arucard watched her for a moment, enjoying the sight of her fully embracing her vampiric side. Galina was tending to her last two manticors, one of which was lying on its side. Isabella was still up in the air, not a scratch on her lovely face, her bats swarming around her. There were only a handful of wolves left and they were being backed into a corner of the room by his loyal subjects. Shadow was finishing off the last of the demons, her face impassive as she efficiently chopped the demon into tiny stir-fry sized pieces.  
  
He spotted Hallow's unmoving form and frowned sadly. He walked quietly over to his old friend, his boots sloshing in the blood that still covered the floor. Katrina was nowhere to be found. He looked around for his little redheaded child and could not find her alive or dead.  
  
Seras stiffened her fingers and plunged them into the chest of her last opponent, then she put her other hand into the same wound, the palms facing outwards. She gripped the edges of the rib cage and pulled with all her might, the wolf splitting open, the two halves flying in opposite directions.  
  
"That's enough police-girl." Said Arucard. Seras immediately came back to herself, her eyes widening with confusion and then horror for what she'd done and then joy that her master was still alive...er...undead.  
  
"Master!" she cried happily as she ran the short distance that separated them and threw her arms around him. She'd been so scared that she'd lost him forever. She'd been so scared that she'd be trapped in this world without him.  
  
"Easy now police-girl. I'm not that weak." He told her, running his gloved hands through her blood matted hair.  
  
Seras suddenly stiffened, she backed away from him and clamped one hand over her mouth and nose.  
  
"What's wrong police-girl?"  
  
"Master." She said, her voice muffled by her hand.  
  
"You smell awful." She told him, her eyes both laughing and disgusted.  
  
Arucard frowned then looked down at his coat. It was covered with a thin film of transparent goo, he touched it and it pulled away from him in a sopping mess.  
  
"Ah. Hellhound slobber." He said with a laugh, remembering Cerberus' parting doggie kiss.  
  
"Police-girl, have you seen Katrina?" he asked, once again searching the room for his elder child. He'd felt something from her during the battle but he'd been so preoccupied with Loki that he'd completely ignored it.  
  
"She's dead. Some big wolf thing ate her. It actually ate her." Said Seras, her voice trembling as recalled the sight of her 'sister' dangling from the wolf's claws.  
  
"Some big wolf thing?" repeated Arucard, his face confused and angry at the same time. Not only was his best friend dead, but now his child was slain also?  
  
"Fenrir." Said Shadow, as she moved to join them.  
  
"What happened to him anyway?"  
  
"Looking for me?" came the gravelly voice of the afore mentioned wolf-god. Behind him stood a hundred fresh werewolf soldiers.  
  
"Here we go again." Said Seras.  
  
Galina and Ranja moved to join them also, leaving the wounded Ahmiyn to recover on her own. The manticor roared loudly, a fresh volley of poison barbs ready in his arching tail.  
  
"Can't you see that you've already lost? Loki is dog food and you are sorely out matched." Said Arucard.  
  
"You are out numbered, and out of bullets. I don't think you have enough power left to take me on." Snapped the fallen deity.  
  
"That's not quite true." Said a new voice from the door. Dragging a large wheeled cart with a massive steel box on it, was Olivia.  
  
End part 10  
  
See, I didn't kill off Arucard! Ah, there is love and death in the air, pretty no? 


	11. Dead is Relitive

Beginning's End By: Lazeralk Standard disclaimers apply. "Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end." – Semisonic  
  
Part 11  
  
*  
  
Olivia glared at the wolf and his troops, dragging the box further into the room. Seras walked over to her, trusting Arucard to watch her back. She remembered the woman with startling clarity as one of the first humans she'd ever fed on.  
  
"Hello Olivia." Said Seras.  
  
"Do I know you?" asked the human struggling to recall a memory that had been erased from her mind.  
  
"Yes, but you don't remember. What's in there?" she asked pointing to the large crate.  
  
"Ammo." Was the mortals answer as she un-hooked the latches and struggled to lift the lid. Seras grasped it one hand and almost tore it off the hinges. Piles of spare clips filled the container to the brim.  
  
"Are these blessed silver?"  
  
"Not blessed, but silver. We don't keep anything blessed in the castle." Answered Olivia.  
  
Seras nodded to herself as she dug through the pile of different size and caliber bullets. There were no clips for the Cassul as those were custom made by Hellsing and whoever Galina's mysterious supplier was, but she did find extra clips for her Berettas and Galina's Browning's and AKM.  
  
She reloaded and stored as many clips on her person as possible before easily dragging the cart over to Galina who also reloaded.  
  
"Enough." Said Fenrir, making an abrupt cutting motion with his clawed hand.  
  
His last force of werewolves, hesitated a moment before reluctantly charging the assembled vampires. They didn't want to die; they were tired of this war already. Each of Arucard's supporters took a section of wolves and cleanly wiped them out, efficiently cutting them down one by one. The wolves died, their hearts not in the fight, and Fenrir raged as he watched them.  
  
In an almost lay manner, Arucard snapped neck and spines, his face full of disgust. It was all too easy. Abruptly he staggered, red-hot pain overwhelming his senses. Fenrir was laughing hysterically but the nosferatu hardly heard it at all. He looked down at himself but found no wound. The pain stopped and he righted himself, looking around in confusion.  
  
Then he saw it.  
  
Isabella, an insane look of rage on her face, had taken the Blade to Call All Darkness and plunged it straight into Seras' heart. The police-girl was dead. Truly dead.  
  
Arucard blinked. Surely it was an illusion. But no, the pain of her death had been real enough. Isabella had slain his police-girl. He stood frozen for a moment, his body refusing to work. His police-girl. His mind was screaming something he couldn't hear, and Integra's face was suddenly floating before him, her rare gentle smile gracing her lips. Then she returned to her normal expression, her icy eyes glinting like chips of steel.  
  
'Well go on, avenge the woman you love.' She seemed to whisper, then she was gone as if she'd never been and Arucard snapped back to the present.  
  
Had he just seen Integra? No, she was dead. So was his police-girl. No, that's not right, she was just here. Arucard brought his hands up to his temples, trying to stop his head from spinning. Nothing made any sense; it was Integra who was dead, not Sears, so why was Integra talking to him and Seras lying unmoving on the floor? Were they both dead? How did that happen? Oh yes, Isabella. Isabella? Why? When did she get the sword? Is Isabella dead too? No, she's standing up. The police-girl? No, she's dead. Should she be dead? No. Should Isabella?  
  
YES!  
  
He hissed as his mind screamed and he suddenly had purpose, he faded and was standing behind his former ally, his hand reaching for the sword of it's own volition. He watched sort of numbly as his body drove the blade into her heart, his gaze focused on his child's face. He couldn't look away, he was waiting. Waiting for her to breath or twitch or something, anything.  
  
Someone was screaming, inside his head, no it was two voices. Was he going insane? No. Whose was the other voice? He didn't know.  
  
-Wake up police-girl. –  
  
She didn't.  
  
-I said wake up police-girl. – He was more forceful this time.  
  
She didn't even twitch.  
  
-She won't wake up. –  
  
Who said that?  
  
-I did. –  
  
Who are you?  
  
-Allen. –  
  
Ah, the Blade. Why won't she wake up?  
  
-She's dead. –  
  
No, she's not. Dead is a relative term. I'm dead. It doesn't matter.  
  
-She's truly dead. –  
  
She's not. She can't be. I didn't tell her she could die. I'm waiting for her to tell me that she loved me. She wanted to you know. I can tell.  
  
-You're pathetic. She's gone. Pushing up daisies. Flat lined. It doesn't get any more dead than this. –  
  
I can do that to. Flat line I mean, it doesn't change anything. She should really wake up now. I have to tell her that I love her too. She's going to be my Queen you know. She can't die before I tell her that, I'm her Master.  
  
-Too bad. –  
  
Too bad what? Is she just tired? She can sleep in my bed if she wants. What's that buzzing noise?  
  
-People are talking to you, have been for a while now. –  
  
Why? What do they want? Seras has to wake up now. I'm getting tired of waiting.  
  
Silence, and the police-girl's face, getting pale now. But she was always pale.  
  
This is why I said I'd never fall in love again. What? Why? Because this is what happens. It hurts, and I'm not supposed to hurt. I'm a monster. Seras doesn't see me that way. So? She's dead, does it matter? Yes. Why? Because I love her. Doesn't that matter? Maybe. No. She's dead so it doesn't. Matter to who? Me. No, her. It matters to me. Does it? Yes. Why? Because I love her. You said that already. I know. No, you said it. Said what? That you love her. When? Just now.  
  
"Arucard, I'm so sorry." That's Galina. Why is she sorry? Did she break something?  
  
"I didn't know you loved her."  
  
Loved? No. I still love her, why is that bad?  
  
"I'm so sorry." Again with the sorry. What's wrong with you woman? Oh, Isabella is dead. I think. There's a sword through her heart, would that kill her? No.  
  
-Yes. –  
  
Oh it's you again. Why would that kill her?  
  
-Because I absorbed all of her power and life energy. –  
  
Oh. That's nice. Why?  
  
-Because you drove me into her heart and told me to feed. You screamed at me to drain her dry and make it as painful as possible. –  
  
I did? When? I don't remember that.  
  
-You were...preoccupied. –  
  
Ah, I see. Sorry about that.  
  
-You should say something. They're worried about you. –  
  
Who? The buzzing is back. It's annoying. Someone is screaming again too.  
  
-You're screaming. –  
  
I am? Oh, I should stop. Have I stopped?  
  
-No. You keep screaming at my mother to wake up. –  
  
Oh, that's embarrassing. She won't wake up? Still? Why not?  
  
-She's dead. –  
  
NO! No she's not! Don't say that! You're wrong. She's just...sleeping.  
  
Isn't she?  
  
...-No. –  
  
Arucard abruptly stopped screaming, his startled eyes focused on the corpse of his child, held tightly in his arms as he kneeled in the blood. His allies stood around him, Fenrir's decapitated corpse lying forgotten behind them. He gazed down at her face and lovingly traced the line of her jaw, his chest tightening painfully when her head lolled listlessly.  
  
"No." he whispered brokenly, trying to go back to his state of disbelief. It didn't hurt when he didn't believe. But he couldn't, she was dead. His...Seras. Dead.  
  
"Seras." He repeated vaguely. Mindlessly parroting his own thoughts. There's a wilted rose there, and snow. Is it winter?  
  
"Seras." He said again, hoping she'd open her eyes at his call. She didn't.  
  
"I love you." He whispered, if that didn't make her wake up, he didn't know what would. She'd jump up and gasp and get all flustered before hugging him again in her girl-ly way any second now. She would.  
  
She would.  
  
Wouldn't she?  
  
Someone moved. He glared up at...Shadow? Yes, it was her. She took the sword from him, held it in front of her face. What was she doing? He didn't care; He looked back down at Seras and cradled her closer to his chest so she'd be comfortable.  
  
He stopped, she didn't need to be comfortable, she was dead. His face was wet, was he crying? Yes, he was crying. Had he been crying for a long time? He didn't know, maybe. Maybe there was just blood in his hair. Allen was glowing; didn't he only do that for Seras?  
  
Shadow walked towards the sunken form of Arucard and the body of his love. She stared at them and smiled sadly before gently pulling his arm away from the wound in his chest and lifting his chin to look at her.  
  
"Arucard. Can you hear me?" she asked.  
  
"Yes." He answered, his brow furrowing in confusion, what kind of stupid question was that? Of course he could hear her.  
  
"Good. I need for you to keep looking at me. Don't loose my eyes no matter what ok?" she asked.  
  
He could do that. Was it some test? Would it help wake her up? He gazed into coal black eyes, and just barely saw the sword moving again, the blade was descending slowly, ever so slowly. He could stop it at any time. He didn't, it was the test. He had to keep watching Shadow's eyes or Seras would never wake up again. He wanted her to wake up so he had to pass this test. The blade was going towards him. Was she going to stab him? Would that help Seras? Maybe. If it did, then it was ok, even if it meant Shadow got a free hit. He'd get her back later. Once Seras woke up and told his she loved him, then he'd get her back. Shouldn't the sword have hit him by now? He didn't feel anything.  
  
He tore his eyes away from Shadow and looked down to see the sword re- embedded in his police-girl. That was wrong!  
  
Rage filled him and he leapt at Shadow, his hands hooked into claws. He'd kill her! He'd rip her to shreds! She hurt Seras! She'd die!  
  
Shadow just stood there and waited, watching as Arucard came closer, her death in his eyes.  
  
End part 11 


	12. Love and Aftermath

Beginning's End By: Lazeralk Standard disclaimers apply. "Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end." – Semisonic  
  
Part 12  
  
To my reviewers, thanks so much for the comments, I love you guys! Fear not, my loyal followers, all will be revealed! Lets see if Della is right or not no?  
  
*  
  
Shadow reformed herself, watching with some dismay as Arucard lunged at her again. Her eyes were focused behind him, on Allen's glowing blade and Seras' pale corpse. The glow left the sword and traveled into her body, filling her with black light.  
  
Arucard slammed his stiffened fingers into the collarbone and tore outward. Shadow's arm hit the pool of blood with a splash before dissolving into nothing. Shadow didn't even flinch. She wasn't looking at him. She should be! Why wasn't she?  
  
The light quivered, ever so slightly, like ripples caused by something moving under the surface. They grew stronger, slowly, so very slowly.  
  
What was she looking at? She should be looking here! Arucard hooked his hands into talons and raked them across her face, sending her head snapping to the side. She just brought it back around and kept looking...looking...  
  
The quivering had become a shallow pulse, weak, but regular. The sword pulsed too; it's light casting shadows where there should be none.  
  
He drove his fist through her stomach and out the other side, still she just stood there, not moving or responding, just looking...into nothing. Or perhaps everything, he didn't care. If she didn't want to see her own death, that was her decision.  
  
The pulse was growing stronger as the power moved from one being to the other; the pulse was becoming a beat, steady and sure. A heartbeat.  
  
Arucard drew his hand out of the hole he'd made in her neck. She didn't even look at him. He scowled at her, what was wrong with her; this was no fun at all. Fun? When was this fun? He'd attacked her in all seriousness, intent on killing her. Intent on punishing her for...for what? He didn't remember, or perhaps he did but it no longer seemed important. He just stood there and watched her watch something he couldn't see. Couldn't or wouldn't. All he had to do was turn around.  
  
The heartbeat was strong, and sure and growing faster, more frantic. The heart beat like a drum, booming across an open field. Faster and faster, until the notes blurred together and it was one sound, loud and joyful.  
  
If he turned around, what would he see? Pain? Yes, he'd see pain, but also hope. Hope that he didn't want. If he hoped, and he turned and there was nothing...  
  
The beating stopped, halted abruptly and completely, until only Arucard's rugged breathing could be heard in the echoing silence.  
  
...Then there would be nothing. Truly nothing, for he would...  
  
Someone drew breath, long and hissing. Eyes snapped open and even that had a sound, minute as it may be. One slender gloved hand lifted up out of the sopping blood and watched as it dripped, dripped, dripped.  
  
...He would...die.  
  
The hand fell back down into the blood and splashed. It lay weak and still, looking meek and forlorn surrounded by the water of life.  
  
And then came the whisper, the sweet sweet sound, so quiet and full of love and hope and devotion, all in one word. One sound so full of joy and sorrow and resonating beauty.  
  
"Master."  
  
Red eyes closed and slowly he turned, tears still flowing freely, though he had forgotten them. He turned and he hoped and he...  
  
She watched as he turned, finding joy in the smallest movement, the tiniest detail, the most perfect flaws. She was filled with awe as the light danced across the line of his jaw and inch-by-inch of his glorious ivory skin was shown to her and she...  
  
...saw the black and the red first, the coat and shirt he'd picked out for her not so very long ago. He watched as the muscles in her legs pulled taunt. She moved. She moved. She actually moved. His eyes traced the curve of her hip, the lines of her stomach and breast and he...  
  
...saw the tears coursing down his face and her heart broke for him. She wanted nothing more than to wipe away those tears and apologize over and over again and promise that she'd never cause him pain again. She wanted to run her fingers through his hair and tell him she'd...  
  
...caught sight of her face and watched as her eyes shattered and a new pain hit his heart, a pain that he embraced so fully that it almost scared him to feel it. Her eyes, they were the only proof he needed, she was alive and he...  
  
...always be there for him, not matter what. She met his eyes, his beautiful eyes that he'd given to her and her heart filled up with something so whole and perfect that she thought that this must be heaven so it was ok to tell him that she...  
  
...could think of nothing but to say that he...  
  
"I love you."  
  
"Well it's about damn time."  
  
Shadow, fully reformed, grasped the hilt of the sword and pulled it out of Seras. The girl drew in a sharp gasp and Arucard immediately lifted her into his arms and cradled her to his chest. He gazed into her eyes and slowly brought their faces together, intent on giving her a kiss that would make her blush a hundred years from now. His lips hovered over her's, and he-  
  
"Oh get a room."  
  
"Wait." Said Galina, Ranja and Ahmiyn at her side.  
  
"Will someone please explain what just happened?"  
  
"The Blade to Call All Darkness-"  
  
"Allen."  
  
"Whatever, the Blade was used to slay Isabella in such a way that it drained all of her power and life energy. This type of death was required for her because Isabella was close to twelve hundred years old. Seras was not even a century yet and so could be slain more easily. I convinced the Blade to give Seras all of the power he stole from Isabella, therefore reviving her." Answered Shadow in her usual bored know-it-all tone.  
  
"I was referring to why Isabella betrayed us." Snapped Galina.  
  
"I can answer that." Said Olivia, the human sloshing through the blood to join them.  
  
"She was in league with the demons the whole time. The demons convinced Loki that she was to be left alone, that's why she wasn't in the cages with the others. Galina was left alone so she could guide Mika-uh Arucard here. She planned to have you kill Loki and for you and Fenrir to kill each other so that she could take the throne for herself." She explained.  
  
"Do you remember the first time you tried to take back Bran Castle? The demons cast you all out except for Isabella. I overheard her talking with one of them before she left to join you again and make sure you didn't just give up. I guess she went crazy when you guys killed Fenrir and Arucard was still standing, so she killed Seras as revenge or something."  
  
Arucard started walking away, Seras still held tightly in his arms. The remaining vampires fell to their knees and bowed as he passed, silently pledging their loyalty to the one true King of the Night. The doors to the ballroom opened before he reached them and the blood rushed out of the room and down the stairs, painting a shimmering red carpet for him as he carried his sleeping love to his room.  
  
Galina sighed and ran her fingers through the tawny manes of her beloved beasts and led then after her lord and friend, intent on finding her old room in the castle and getting cleaned up.  
  
Shadow took one last look around before sinking back into the blood and through the shadows to her own world, her own home. She walked the halls of a great and ancient library, the golden-eyed Shadow Walker behind the desk projecting happiness at her return before going back to his books. She placed a small orb to her temple and it filled with pure white light. She put the orb onto the blank cover of an empty book and watched at it sank into the bindings and wrote out her memories. She opened the book when the light was gone and read through the first page before shutting it and sliding it onto a shelf, to be lost among her own sea of pages until it was called on again.  
  
Olivia watched as the rest of the vampires stood up and began to file out of the bloody room. She looked down at her feet, scowling at them as if it were their fault. She felt hands on her shoulders as looked up to see a vampire, covered in blood, his long black hair plastered to his skin. He smiled at her, fangs flashing before offering his arm to her.  
  
"C'mon, lets get you washed up. The King will want to speak with you once he's sure Lady Seras is alright."  
  
"Who...are you?" she asked, eyeing his arm warily.  
  
"I'm Jonas. I use to be one of the Kings retainers. Don't worry, I don't think I could eat anything else tonight." He assured her.  
  
"I'm Olivia." She said, hesitantly taking his arm.  
  
"A pleasure. Now come."  
  
He led her out of the room, leaving the blood and bodies behind them. The lights shut off as they left, the doors swinging shut as they went.  
  
He pushed open a door that looked like very other door in the castle and ushered her into a lavish room before bidding her good night and retiring to the coffin room for a well-deserved rest. Olivia sat down on her comforter and looked around at all the riches that surrounded her and cried for her lost dreams of stardom.  
  
*  
  
Arucard set Seras down on the bed and pulled back the covers, unlacing her boots and pulling them off. She groaned a little but didn't wake up. He careful pried the leather coat away from her blood soaked skin and set it aside as he drew the blankets up to her chin, just the way he knew she liked it.  
  
She smiled in her sleep and seemed to sink into the mattress. He tenderly brushed the hair from her face and dragged a chair over to her bedside. He propped his feet up on the edge of the nightstand and pulled the brim of his hat over his eyes. He took a moment to settle himself before relaxing and slipping into his police-girl's dreams.  
  
*  
  
Seras was highly uncomfortable. The collar was too stiff, her back forced straight by something solid and unyielding around her ribs. There was think cloth binding her legs together, and the she couldn't raise her arms fully.  
  
"You look beautiful police-girl." Came the voice of her master.  
  
"What is this thing?" she asked, pulling at the long sleeves that seemed to have far too much cloth.  
  
"It's a kimono, and I think it looks very nice on you." He said emerging from the shadows to wrap his arms around her. His own red gi sleeved brushing against her skin.  
  
"Oh, it's a little stiff, but if you like it..." she said.  
  
He smiled, and buried his nose in her hair.  
  
"Seras. I'm sorry."  
  
"Sorry for what master?"  
  
"For not protecting you from her." He wasn't smiling anymore.  
  
"It's ok master, I would have much rather it was me than you. I don't know if I could take it if you died for real."  
  
"I almost couldn't, I..."  
  
"Master?" Seras turned around in his arms, searching for his eyes.  
  
"I attacked Shadow, I meant to kill her."  
  
"Master, don't be silly. You and I both know that Shadow is truly immortal. You can't kill her, even if you tried."  
  
"I did try."  
  
"Master." She buried her face in his chest and he tucked her head under his chin and just held her to him, reveling in the inky blackness and the silence around them. They were alone and together, and that's all that mattered.  
  
Seras felt something strange, a sort of tugging inside her.  
  
-Allen? –  
  
-Yes mother? Are you feeling all right now? –  
  
-This is a dream Allen, so I can feel any way I want to. I felt something weird, I thought it might have been you. –  
  
-No, I didn't do anything. –  
  
"Police-girl?"  
  
"I felt something..."  
  
"Police-girl!"  
  
Seras looked up at his shocked face with confusion. What was going on? Why was he looking at he that way? His gaze traveled down her body and she followed it, gazing at her hands with growing horror. Her fingers had elongated into the giant poles that bent and twisted, her kimono was shredded, her skin stretching and turning black. Fur was sprouting from her face, her ears moving up the sides of her head and pointing. Her legs were growing short and hooked, her nails turning into claws.  
  
She was becoming a bat.  
  
End part 12 Yes, I'll explain it in the next chapter; no it's not just a weird dream. 


	13. The Prize

Beginning's End

By: Lazeralk

Standard disclaimers apply.

"Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end." – Semisonic 

Part 13

DameNight – You are a smart smart person you are! You were paying attention to the way Allen's power worked in Drowning in Darkness. You get cookies!

PhilG – Have I told you that I love you? I always look for your reviews after each chapter and it almost seems wrong to post before I get them. And no, I can't make anything simple or clear, it's a genetic problem that I have. You are wonderful, thanks so much!

Elbereth – Yay! Thanks so much for you reviews, you've been so loyal and great and spiffy cool! I'm such a happy author!

Well guys, it's been fun but I think this will be the last chapter. Then I'll work on something new, maybe I'll do a different series. I think I've exhausted Hellsing. Thanks for everything, you've all been wonderful. Now, onward to the end.

Seras stared with something akin to horror down the length of her body. She was a bat, a BAT.

"Master!" she tried to cry but all that came out was a high pitched squeek.

-Master! – she tried and this time his eyes snapped up to meet her own.

"Well, this is interesting." he replied easily.

-Interesting? You think this is interesting? I'm a bat for crying out loud and all you can say is 'that's interesting?!' Master! HELP! -

"Relax police-girl. This is just a dream after all."

-Oh and that makes me feel sooo much better. Just change me back! –

"I can't."

-Why the hell not?! –

"It's not my dream. It's yours, you change back." He said, crossing his arms over his chest and scowling at her.

-I don't…understand what's happening! Why? Why is this happening? – she all but cried, mentally thrashing at the darkness that surrounded her.

Arucard frowned, tasting the energy coming from his child's psyche. It was Seras' power but also…also…Isabella's. The sword. It was the sword's doing. He used the blade to absorb the life energy from Isabella, then Shadow transferred that captive power to Seras. Seras had all of Isabella's power now, including her familiar the bat. The dream was a manifestation of her new abilities. He had to get her to acknowledge them, to take control of them as he had when he'd first gained his hellhounds. He had to walk her through the process as his master had with him.

"Concentrate police-girl. Will yourself back into your natural form, don't fight the bat, command it. You are not the bat, the bat belongs to you. The bat is your servant, but you must earn it's respect. You must prove that your will is greater and that you will surrender to no one." He told her, repeating the words his own master gave him.

Seras stopped struggling with her inner self, she felt the panic melt away as her master's voice filled her ears. As long as she could hear him, it would be alright, she had the faith that only love could give. She focused, trying to separate the bat's mind from hers. She concentrated on her own human body, visualizing the way her hair spiked and the little scar on her neck from Anderson's blessed blades.

She envisioned her new clothes, the ones Arucard had picked out for her. She could smell the shampoo she used and the feel the material of her gloves on her hands. She opened her eyes and gazed up at her Master's face, smiling down at her.

"Well done police-girl."

Arucard was half draped over her body, his arms wrapped around her shoulders. She lay on her back, her head turned to the side so that her face tipped up to meet his. She felt mentally along her body and was greeted by pain. Her wounds throbbed and her muscles ached, but she was Seras again.

"I'm me. I did it." She whispered happily.

"You did." Agreed Arucard. "Drink this and get some sleep police-girl."

He lifted a goblet of warm werewolf blood to her lips and patiently held it for her while she drank slowly. When she was finished he brushed the hair from her face and kissed her forehead, watching as her eyes drifted shut and she slept.

When he was sure she was asleep, he slid off the bed and pulled the covers up to her chin, just the way he knew she liked it, and sat down at his desk. His master's book lay open on the ledger, the page with the prophecy of the Blade staring up at him. He'd almost lost her that time.

He glared at the book, nothing would take her from him now, she belonged to him even if she only half realized it. He glanced up from the book and gazed across the room at her where she slept in his bed. That was where she belonged. He'd keep her there, always.

With a smirk he pulled an extra pair of his trakemark yellow glasses from the desk drawer and slipped them on as he paged through the book until he found an empty page. He picked up his pen and began to write.

Galina lay on the floor of her old room, her platinum blonde hair spread out around her face. Her bloodstained clothes were gone, replaced with her usual silk and lace gowns, her body freshly bathed and her wounds bandaged. They'd be gone by morning, but she didn't want to stain her sheets.

Ahmiyn lay beside her, thumping her black scorpion tail against the carpet like the cat she was. She pawed at the rug and rubbed her head against her master's side.

"Can you believe it Ahmiyn? Only five of us survived that. Isabella was a traitor, Katrina was eaten and Hallow is dead. It's you, Ranja, Arucard, Sears and me now." She told the manticor.

Ahmiyn whined and moved so that the hand that stroked her side continuously rested on her belly. Galina frowned when the fur under her hands kicked. Fur was not supposed to kick.

"Ahmiyn." She said before smiling and putting an ear to the beast's stomach.

"You're pregnant!"

"Master? What's this?" Asked Seras, eyeing a plain white box on her bed. Well, it was Arucard's bed, but that wasn't the point.

"A gift." Said her Master, barely containing his excitement. "Go on, open it!" he said, watching her with lamp like eyes.

She smiled at him ruefully, pulling the lid of the box off to reveal an indistinguishable mass of silk and gold. Her brows drawn in confusion, she lifted the material out of the box, having to pull yards of it out at a time.

"Master, it's lovely, but what is it?" she asked, eyeing the mass of cloth that spilled out of her hands and all the way to the floor.

"It's a kimono. You looked so beautiful in the first one that I couldn't resist." He explained, lifting the silk from her fingers and draping it across her shoulders from behind.

"Thank you master." She said, leaning against him as he wrapped one arm around her waist and brought her hand to his lips.

"I'll show you how to wear it later." He whispered.

"Mmm." She agreed, carefully removing the kimono and trying her best to fold it back up. Arucard eventually took it from her and showed her how to do it properly. She smiled and leaned forward to kiss him before wandering into his spacious, if ancient, bathroom.

It was hard to believe that a mere three days had passed, but they had. Seras brushed her growing hair out of her face and let her lover lead her through the now pristine halls of his castle. The blood was gone, the carpets replaced, the walls washed and repainted. The vampires that were left were all clean, healthy and dressed to the nines.

The huge double doors of the ballroom opened up, the vampires inside bowing low to their rulers. Jonas, Olivia on his arm, smiled in greeting and gave Seras a kiss to her hand.

A huge marble dais had been moved into the center of the room, two ornate thrones placed side by side at the top. Arucard seated his queen first and then fell gracefully into his rightful throne. He propped one elbow on the arm, leaned his face against his knuckles and gave the room his trademark maniac smile.

The End.


End file.
